


𝕘𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕡𝕒

by raliu_424



Category: None - Fandom
Genre: Gen, THIS IS A STORY FOR IRLS IF YOU’RE HERE BECAUSE OF JRWI PLEASE DONT READ LMAO, danganronpa - Freeform, don't read it if you don't go to gms, geonronpa, just a story, you won't understand it uh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 54,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21758959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raliu_424/pseuds/raliu_424
Summary: 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵- who will survive in the end?
Comments: 30
Kudos: 50





	1. 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖 ~ 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖

August 6th, 2020, 6:00 PM -

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘.

He woke up on a soft mattress. 

His vision was blurry, and he felt almost incomprehensibly dizzy. 

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮 𝘐?

He waited for his eyes to adjust to the light the room was filled with, and slowly sat up. The room around him was designed similarly to a college dorm room. There was no more than a bed, a vanity and a dresser. The walls seemed to be cement bricks that had been painted over, each wall a different color. There was a wooden door set into the wall opposite him. 

It wasn’t until he stood up that it hit him. 

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

It seemed that he still retained all of his general knowledge, but he found that no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t remember a thing about himself. He stood there, almost in shock, unable to move. 

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?

After a moment of uneasy silence, he cautiously approached the vanity, and gazed into its mirror to meet his reflection.. 

𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯. 

𝘔𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯.

Dylan backed away from the mirror, nervous. With one last glance around the room, he walked over to the door and fidgeted with the handle until it opened to reveal that the room was one of many, all branching off on the same long hallway. The walls were painted cement bricks, same as in the room he woke up in, and all of the other doors were identical to his. Dylan stepped out into the middle of the hallway. It was completely empty, devoid of anyone else. The end he was closer to was no more than another wall, but the other end seemed to lead somewhere. 

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.

He kept walking that way, only to hear the sound of a door opening behind him, and turned quickly to see a short, blonde kid with a confused expression on his face step out of the room right next to his. 

“Who are you?” the kid asked defensively. “Where are we?” 

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Dylan answered. The kid looked so incredibly familiar to Dylan for reasons he couldn’t quite explain. Where did he know him from? 

“What do you remember?” Dylan inquired. 

“My name,” the blonde answered, hesitant. “I’m Trevor.” 

“I’m Dylan,” he answered automatically, not needing to debate whether to trust the kid he just met. He knew him, from somewhere. . . 

“What’s your weird thing?” Trevor asked. 

“What?” 

“That you can’t stop thinking about? Like your. . . talent, or something. Mine’s baseball.” 

“I. . .” Dylan thought hard for a moment. “I don’t think I have one of those,” he answered. 

“Uh, well. . . why don’t we look around some?” Trevor suggested. 

“Good idea,” Dylan answered. The two walked to the end of the hallway, which ended with the floor’s design changing to a tiled compass. The east end pointed down the hallway, with north to their right and south to their left. 

“Do you know where we are?” Trevor asked as the two began walking to the right, down towards the north end of the building. 

“I know as much as you do, so. . . nothing.” 

“Brain empty, no thoughts,” Trevor said with a slight laugh. 

The two kept walking, taking in their surroundings. There were a few different sets of double doors along the way to the end, but each of them was locked. They finally approached the end of the hall, with a pair of double doors to their left. Dylan reached out and wasn’t surprised to see they were locked. 

“Well, that was productive,” Trevor said sarcastically. “Come on, we’ll go check out the other end.” He turned and began walking back the way he came, but Dylan lingered in front of the set of double doors. On a small, dark blue plaque on the wall next to the door, in white letters, was the word ‘PEACOCK.’ He reached out and let his fingers run over the word, unsure of why it felt so familiar, but upon contact, he felt a slight shock from the sign. He pulled his hand away quickly as he was suddenly bombarded with quick images, all flying through his head: a short, spikey-haired Asian kid playing the trombone. Three girls, one with a flute and two with clarinets, laughing. A tall brunette with a baritone smiling. A middle-aged man standing at a podium, a smile on his face and a conductor’s baton in hand. A late night on the football field, all standing on their dots, ready to put on a show. 

But it was all gone, just as quickly as it came. 

“Marching,” he said quietly. 

“That’s my talent.” 

~~~~ 

August 6th, 2020, 6:10 PM-

Cameron leaned out the bedroom door, scouring the hallway. There was a group of girls talking in hushed voices in a circle, and three guys doing the same further down. There were a few on their own, standing there, confused looking, for reasons he knew were well-warranted. He didn’t remember anything, and no one else must have remembered anything either, judging by the quiet whispers of distress that were steadily emerging. He closed the door behind him and quickly walked down the hallway, keeping his head down and shoulders hunched, not wanting to interact with anyone. They were all strangers, and nothing that he knew (though it wasn’t much) was none of their concern. 

He brushed past a short, dirty-blonde haired girl by accident, but couldn’t find the words to apologize for running into her. He kept going, reaching the end of the hallway, and took a left, walking past a few sets of double doors. He tried each of them as he went, but wasn’t surprised to find they were all locked. 

After approaching the farther end of the hall, he found an unlocked door. It was set into a wall made of glass, and upon peering through it, he saw a cafeteria. Cameron pulled the door open and stepped into the empty room. His footsteps echoed as he crossed it to examine the doors on the other side. Luckily, they were unlocked as well, and he walked into the kitchen. There was a set of kitchen knives to his right. He examined them hesitantly before taking one, not knowing what all this place had in store, and slipping it in his jacket pocket. A source of defense would be helpful. 

He turned and surveyed the rest of the room. The freezer was at the back, acting as its own room, and there were buffet two lines to his left and right, almost as if he was in some sort of school. A sink was slowly dripping water up ahead. The sound was mildly aggravating, so he approached the sink and almost unconsciously stuck his hand under it, letting a droplet fall onto his finger. 

“Swimming,” he said immediately. It was the first thing that came to mind, and the moment he thought of it, the concept was stuck in his head. For some reason it just wouldn’t leave. 

Confused, Cameron turned off the sink and walked out of the kitchen and cafeteria, returning to the hallway he had woken up on, and waited. For what, he wasn’t sure, but he was armed and ready to face whatever would come his way. 

~~~~ 

August 6th, 2020, 6:10 PM-

“Where the everloving- oh my god.” 

Lili paced anxiously back and forth across the room she had woken up in, talking out loud to herself to compensate for her lack of another person. Same as the others, she had woken up with no recollection of anything, and it was freaking her out. After continuing with her somewhat frantic pacing, she steadied her composure and calmly approached the door, opening it to reveal the same hallway, with doors lining the walls. The first thing that caught her eye was a dark blue plaque next to the door across from her, which read “ADKINS” in big white letters. She turned and looked at her own door to see “COOK” on the wall next to it. 

𝘞𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥. . .

She walked down the hallway a bit more, surveying the people in it. A few groups, a few stragglers. People were talking and debating, sounding just as confused as she felt. A quick shove, and she had been pushed aside by some kid with messy hair, who continued walking down the hallway, not raising his head or apologizing. 

“Hey, nice much?” she snapped, not liking his lack of apology or acknowledgement. Lili sighed as he kept walking, knowing she wouldn’t be getting much out of these people. 

After a few minutes of milling around on the hallway, trying not to make eye contact with anyone, a loud sound echoed throughout the hallway, like one single note being held out. Once the sound finished, an amplified voice began talking; the sound had signaled an announcement over an intercom system. 

“Well hello, ultimates!” the voice began. Though it expressed emotion while it talked, it sounded mechanized, as if some sort of machine was talking. 

“You’re all most likely very confused, but don’t worry! Everything will be made clear in just a moment! Please make your way to the gymnasium at this time so all can be revealed.” 

A clicking sound signaled the end of the announcement, and the hallway erupted in sound all at once. People were talking frantically, all asking each other questions no one knew the answer to. After a moment of chaos, a voice called down the hallway. 

“Hey, the gym is down here,” a short, curly-haired boy said, pointing out of the hallway and to the left. Everyone slowly began trickling towards the end of the hall, all hesitant to see what awaited them in the gymnasium. Lili waited behind the rest, not wanting to be one of the first people there, and let the rest of the group move towards it. Once the hallway was mostly cleared, she began walking, taking a left and following everyone to the set of double doors. She walked into the gym, moving towards the back, where she saw a nervous looking brunette fidget anxiously with a pen in her hand. 

“Uh. . . hi.” Lili said, approaching the girl. “What’s your name?” 

“I’m Bria,” the brunette answered quietly. “Do you know where we are. . .?” 

“No,” Lili responded. “I was hoping you did.” 

“Oh, well-” 

Bria’s words were cut off by the same mechanical voice that had called over the intercom, coming from the top of an elevated area that looked like a semi-makeshift stage. It was a humanoid mechanical-looking thing, appearing neither male or female, with a body made of metal. 

“Hello there, ultimates!” the mech said, with a slightly unnerving smile. “My name is Pat-Ton, and I’ll be your game supervisor!” 

Whispers spread throughout the small crowd. 

“Game?” Lili asked out loud. “What sort of-” 

“What does that mean-?” 

“What type of name is Pa-” 

“Silence, everyone,” Pat-Ton demanded. “All your questions will be answered shortly.” 

“Anyways, as I was saying, I’m your game supervisor! What is this game, you ask? Well, listen closely and I’ll explain.” Pat-Ton leaned closer to the crowd from the stage. “You’re all here for one purpose and one purpose only: to leave! As obvious as that may seem, the methods by which you leave are not, so some of you will need to man up a bit, because what you have to do to leave may not seem very ideal.” 

“Spit it out already!” a kid called out. 

“Shut up, Ethan,” the curly-haired boy next to him said. 

“Ohoho, patience, we’re getting there, child,” Pat-Ton said with that same unnerving smile. “To get out, it’s plain and simple: murder!” 

The crowd erupted in protest, everyone very much against the prospect of killing the people around them. 

“Now, it’s more than just killing someone, so listen closely: every time a someone commits a murder, a trial is held to try and find the murderer! If the murderer is convicted correctly, then the murderer is punished and executed, but if the majority votes for the incorrect person, then everyone except the murderer dies, and the murderer gets to leave! There are two people here, among you, that are unlike the rest- a mastermind and a traitor. The mastermind helped create the game, and is behind everything that happens to you guys, and the traitor gathers information for the mastermind so they can change up the game to make things more interesting. If the mastermind is killed, then the game ends, and everyone else gets to leave. A trial will be held where I reveal the mastermind’s identity and tell you all you can leave, so your goal is to kill who you think is the mastermind, and properly get away with the murder if they aren’t the mastermind! In the case that you believe you’ve learned who they are, with evidence to prove it, I will begin a trial and the supposed mastermind will take it from there.” 

“The game has five main rules: One, no cheating the game. There’s no evident way to do this, because it’s all been absolutely perfected, but it’s a given anyways. Two, you can’t murder more than one person at once. Three, no attacking your game supervisor, which is me! Four, no attacking the supposed mastermind if they’re on trial, and five, no sneaking out after curfew, which is at 9:30. I will make announcements over the intercom telling you when meals and events are,” Pat-Ton continued. 

“I believe that covers everything, any questions?” the mech inquired. 

“What is an ultimate?” a blonde girl with a pencil tucked behind her ear asked. 

“Why, you’re all ultimates!” Pat-Ton answered. “You all have a specific talent. For example. . . the mech looked across the crowd. “Parker there is the Ultimate Saxist, because his talent is playing the saxophone. Everyone will find out what theirs is soon if they haven’t already, so just you wait!” 

The room was silent once her question was done, everyone staring at each other, bewildered. The whole scenario was ridiculous. After a moment, a boy with long, black hair spoke up angrily. 

“So you just expect us to kill each other? Just like that?” he yelled out. “You’re just going to pit a bunch of strangers against each other?!” He climbed up on the stage and stood there, seemingly challenging the supervisor. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something shiny, which LIli realized was a knife. To her left, she noticed the kid with messy hair reach into his own pocket, a look of fear overtaking his face as he realized nothing was there. 

“How do we know this isn’t some sort of sick prank someone’s playing on us all?” the kid on stage continued. 

“Well, for one thing, you aren’t all strangers. Prepare for the nostalgia trip, because there will certainly be one for you all! Everything will seem familiar, and that’s because it is! And as for the prank bit. . . do you want some sort of proof?” 

“Yeah!” the boy exclaimed. 

In a flash, the knife was out of the boy’s hands and in the mech’s, and the boy was kneeling on the ground, clutching his ear. Blood leaked from between his fingers, and his facial expression showed he was absolutely horrified. Most people looked away, but Lili couldn’t help but stare. 

“D-Did you just cut off my ear-?!” 

“No, not cut off, just gave it a little slice. After we’re done here, you’ll be taken to the infirmary and get wrapped up. You were about to directly violate rule number three, I was simply doing what I needed to do to stop you, Benjamin.” 

The boy sneered. “It’s Jude.” 

The mech turned away from him, empathy nowhere to be seen, and faced the rest of the group. “There are twenty of you now. How many will there be when the game is over, and some of you get to leave? Only time will tell! For now, introduce yourselves and make yourselves comfortable here, because goodness knows how long you’ll be here for! Have fun, and may the game begin!” 

The mech turned and walked through a door that was connected to the back of the stage, closing it behind them. 

“Zoë, what are you doing?” Bria called 

A girl -- Zoë, presumably – had run after Pat-Ton, but her efforts did nothing. The door had been locked behind the mech. 

“Ugh. . . snap,” she muttered dejectedly. 

People began whispering to each other again, all discussing the new information they had just been given. Lili was about to approach the boy bleeding on the stage to try and help, when out of nowhere, a smaller version of Pat-Ton appeared, rolling across the floor as if it were on roller skates. It got onto the stage and was joined by multiple other little mechs that were all identical to it, and they all kept nudging Jude until he stood up, still holding the side of his head. They all began rolling towards the gym door, presumably leading him to the infirmary, and so Jude followed them, and was joined shortly after by the boy with the curly hair and Ethan. 

Bewildered, Lili glanced at Bria to verify what she had seen, and Bria’s look of surprise alone told Lili that she wasn’t crazy, and that had just happened. The two engaged in anxious conversation just as the rest of the room was, but were interrupted minutes later by a voice talking over everyone. 

A girl with curly blonde hair had climbed onto the stage and was calling for everyone’s attention. 

“Uh, guys. . . everyone, look up here please!” she yelled out. “Look, we’re all confused and none of us really know what’s going on, but one thing is for sure: none of us want to kill someone. Why don’t we all agree not to do that, and instead all work together to find a way out? The building has to have some means of escape.” 

“Olivia, doesn’t that count as cheating, which breaks the first rule?” A short girl with freckles asked. 

“I mean. . . do we really want to follow these rules though?” Olivia asked in return. A murmur of agreement spread over the crowd. “If we all just work together, I’m sure that-” 

Her words were interrupted by the sound of the intercom buzzing, followed by Pat-Ton's talking. “Hello ultimates! Glad to see you’re all becoming friends. Sorry to interrupt any plans you may be making, but it’s 6:45, meaning it’s dinner time! Everyone please make your way to the cafeteria at this time to find something to eat before the evening ends.” 

People began filtering out of the gym, disregarding the girl on stage’s protests, and walked to the cafeteria across the hallway, with Olivia herself joining them soon after. Lili lingered behind again, talking with Bria. 

“There’s no way they expect us to just do that,” Lili said. “We’re all kids still! We can’t murder each other!” 

“Yeah!” Bria agreed. 

“There’s something so. . . off-putting about this whole thing. No one remembers anything but we all know each other. Do they really expect for us to kill each other, especially since I’m safe to assume that we were all, at some point, friends? No one’s going to. . . no one’s going to do that,” she reassured herself. 

“I hope you’re right. . .” Bria responded. “Come on, let’s go get something to eat.” 

“I’m not hungry,” Lili said. “I’m going to head to bed early and just. . . process all of this, I guess. I’ll see you in the morning, Bria.” 

“Okay. Don’t. . . don’t get murdered while you sleep, I guess.” 

Lili let out a small laugh. “You too.” 

They both smiled warmly to each other before Lili walked out of the gym, headed back towards the room she had woken up on. As she walked down the hallway, she read some of the other blue plaques that seemed to be outside of all the doors. 

“𝘙𝘐𝘋𝘌𝘖𝘜𝘛,” “𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘋𝘌𝘕𝘏𝘈𝘓𝘓,” “𝘔𝘈𝘠𝘖,” “𝘎𝘙𝘈𝘠.”

All so familiar, yet she didn’t know why. . . 

She approached her own door and opened it, walking into the room. She slipped her shoes off and turned off the lights, crawling into bed in the clothes she was in, and stared up at the ceiling, thinking to herself.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘸?


	2. 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪

August 7th, 2020, 7:57 AM

The next morning came quickly, with Lili waking up at what felt like the crack of dawn. She didn’t sleep well the night before, and nothing about the situation was sitting well with her. Climbing out of bed, she walked over to the dresser across the room and pulled open a drawer. She pulled out the shirt on top, which had “GMS Dance” monogrammed across it, and threw it on. She slipped on the shoes she had worn the day before and left the room, craving food to make up for the dinner she had skipped the night before. She walked down the hallway and turned left, making her way down to the cafeteria. 

The cafeteria was bustling, with most of the other ultimates already awake as well. She wasn’t surprised- most of them probably hadn’t slept very well either. She walked in and was greeted by Bria’s cheery “good morning!” Lili smiled in return and looked around the room. Most people were walking in and out of the kitchen, so she walked back through the door like the rest of them to find that the place had been taken over. Olivia was stood at a stove, poking at some bacon that was frying in the pan with a spatula. She turned to face Lili and smiled. 

“I’m the ultimate baker!” she said. “I walked in here last night and immediately just sort of knew.” 

“Oh, cool,” Lili answered with a weak smile. She lingered just a moment to watch the joy Olivia seemed to be getting out of her cooking, and explored the rest of the kitchen. She found a rack of fruit and took an apple from it, deciding it would be her breakfast, and sat down next to Bria at one of the cafeteria tables. 

“How’d you sleep?” Bria asked. 

“Uh. . . as well as someone who’s stuck in a murder game can.” 

The two finished their food and left the cafeteria, not wanting to stick around with the other people, and walked to Lili’s room, sitting down on the bed to talk about the whole situation. 

“What are we going to do? Should we help the rest of them look around for a way out or. . . actually play the game?” Bria inquired. 

“You would really kill someone for a chance to get out of here?” 

“I- well, no, but I mean, if I found out who the mastermind was, and it meant the rest of us could leave, then I guess I would. . .?” 

“I’m staying out of all of it. I’m going to wait until someone else does something that lets the rest of us leave,” Lili responded. “I don’t want to kill someone, plus, the chances of being convicted are probably too high. I guarantee you the trial system is rigged so the right person is voted and they keep us here longer.” 

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Bria paused. “Why don’t we at least help look around? It can’t hurt. Most everyone’s probably done with breakfast now, we can ask Olivia if her search is still on and meet everyone else in the process. It’d be nice to get an idea of like. . .” 

“Who might kill someone?” 

“Yeah. Who might kill someone.” 

~~~~ 

August 7th, 9:34 AM 

Dylan stepped out of his room and into the hallway, unsure of what to do with his day. He wasn’t hungry and had no intentions of going to breakfast, but to his knowledge, there was nothing to do. He walked down the hallway and to the end of it, and almost without thinking, took a right, headed towards the same set of double doors that gave him his ultimate. When he got to them, just like the day before, he tried the handle, only this time, it budged. 

The door pushed open and a light inside flickered on to reveal a carpeted room, with four rows of empty chairs and music stands taking up most of the floor area. There were a few sets of shelves, but they were all bare, other than one or two instrument cases on each one. 

As if he knew where to go, he immediately turned and approached one of the four doors on the wall to his left, and opened it to reveal a small room that was completely empty other than a shelf, which had one singular instrument case on it. He pulled it off the shelf and sat it on the ground, opening it and pulling out the baritone that was inside it. With a smile, he attached the mouthpiece and blew into the horn, a clear sound echoing in the small room. He sat the instrument down and quickly walked out of the band hall to get Parker, who was the Ultimate Saxist. People had assembled in the gym and were talking about finding an exit, but Dylan didn’t care. He just wanted to play some music. 

“Hey, uh, guys?” He called out in the gym. “The band hall is unlocked. There’s music stuff in there, so just. . . come on if you want to.” 

Parker followed him back, along with a few others who had all gotten their ultimate the same way, and they all congregated in the hall, knowing instinctively which case was theirs and pulling out their instruments. The small group consisted of people that introduced themselves as Audrey, Gabby, Parker, Cameron, and of course, Dylan himself. They all stacked the rows of chairs that filled the room against the wall and set up five chairs in a circle. The group all sat down in them with their instruments and, without any preparation, all played the same note in unison. They continued playing, warming up with their instruments and running through music that they all knew how to play, yet couldn’t even place the name of. 

“This game works so weirdly,” Gabby commented between pieces. She gestured to the cello that leaned against her lap. “I remember how to play this, and I remember songs that we all seem to know. . . yet when we got here, I could hardly remember my own name. How did the mastermind make us forget everything?” 

Audrey shook her head in response. “I think. . . I think we’d do better asking why they did it, instead of how. Nothing here makes sense.” 

The door opened, and Ethan walked into the hall. 

“I just want to listen,” he said, sitting down on the floor, leaning up against the wall. 

The quintet continued with their music, enjoying themselves for the first time, ignoring the future they knew was looming dangerously close. 

~~~~ 

August 7th, 2020, 11:07 

The group finished with their playing after about an hour and all left the band hall, going off to do whatever they elected to do with their spare time. There was another hallway, just like the one the bedrooms all resided in, and Cameron had wanted to explore it. He walked down the green and white tiled hallway, scanning each of the doors, all of which had names on the wall outside of them. 

“𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘒𝘌𝘙,” “𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘞,” “𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘌𝘙”. . . 

“𝘔𝘖𝘙𝘈𝘓𝘐.”

He opened the door of the room and flicked on the lights. The first thing that caught his eye was the green couch and chair directly in front of him, followed shortly by a messy shelf in the back right corner of the room. 

He closed the door behind him and sat down in the chair in the corner of the room, and for the first time, smiled. The room felt comforting to him, and oddly familiar. 

The door opened, and a group of four walked into the room. 

“I- oh, hey,” the first said. He was the same kid that had almost had his ear cut off the day before. There were white bandages wrapped around the side of his head, stopping the bleeding. Behind him stood the same curly-haired boy that had alerted everyone to the gym’s location, a taller boy, and a dark-haired girl. 

“I’m David,” the shortest boy said. 

“Wade,” the tall one said, focusing on the room rather than the people in it. 

“And I’m. . . leaving,” the girl said, turning and walking out. 

“Oh, thank god,” Jude commented as she walked away. “That’s Carter. We’d been hoping she’d leave us alone.” 

Wade walked over and sat down on the couch, perpendicular to Cameron, and the other two joined him. 

“I’m Cameron,” Cameron muttered, longing for the silence the room had brought. After a moment of awkward silence between the four of them, something on the table in front of him caught his eye. 

He stood and walked over to the table, on which sat a cube, with half of its six sides missing, revealing an intricate contraption built inside. He picked up a golf ball that sat next to it on the table and dropped it into the start of the machine, watching it travel through the little course made for it. At the end, it rolled out onto the table, onto a piece of paper. He picked up the ball and flipped over the paper to see a quickly written note scribbled onto it. 

𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯- 

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦. 

𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯, 𝘪𝘵’𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 

-𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘬

He folded the paper and slid it into his pocket, confused. Who was Erik? How did he know him, and what did this Mission Possible thing have to do with anything? 

𝘚𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

~~~~ 

August 7th, 2020, 2:08 PM

Lili walked up the hallway, chatting nervously with Bria and Randi, a new girl she had met in the search for the exit. The group of three were all headed to a late lunch. 

“Hey, you two go on ahead, I’m going to grab something. Just meet Zoë in the cafeteria, I’ll be right there,” she said, entering her room. The other two girls kept going, and turned at the end of the hallway, headed off to the cafeteria. 

Lili quickly threw on a different pair of shoes, due to the first ones rubbing a blister on the back of her foot, and walked out of the room. She was no more than a few steps down the hall when she noticed that the door next to her own room was thrown ajar. She took a step in to see Dylan standing over something lying on the ground, completely still. 

“Oh- Oh my god-” he stuttered, his words sounding strangled. 

The buzz of the intercom called throughout the school, and Pat-Ton's voice, clear as day, echoed through the speakers. 

"𝘈 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥!"


	3. 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕝

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> notes: the trial itself is written in script format for the sake of time, since there's a lot of dialogue.

August 7th, 2020, 2:12 PM

“𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴! 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭! 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 ‘𝘍𝘐𝘕𝘊𝘏,’ 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦!”

Dylan’s heart raced. He hadn’t expected this to happen, not this soon into the game. It had only been a day since everything started, he didn’t think anyone would take this all seriously. 

And yet there on the floor in front of him laid Trevor’s body. The blonde was just lying there, peacefully, with no evidence of physical injury. His eyes were closed, and he looked almost peaceful, there on the ground. 

Lili walked into the room behind him, just as seemingly shocked as Dylan was. 

“Who would- oh my god, who would do this?” She asked, unable to remove her gaze from the body. 

“I guess that’s what we have to figure out,” Dylan muttered. He kneeled down and looked around the area, searching for anything of use. More and more people gradually trickled into the room, all looking for clues. 

“He wasn’t attacked with a weapon,” Morgan observed. “Unless it was something that can kill you without breaking the skin.” 

“There’s no sign of blunt force anywhere on him,” Gabby commented. 

Dylan had reached under the bed when his fingers came in contact with something.. He grabbed onto it and pulled, revealing one of the cups from the kitchen. Upon raising the sheets from the floor, he saw that the cup’s contents were still there, spilled onto the ground 

“I think I found our weapon,” he said quietly. 

He took a whiff of the cup, trying to determine what its contents were. 

𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘪𝘭.

Audrey took the cup from him, observing its contents as well. “It smells like- like valve oil. Can valve oil kill you?” 

“I don’t think so?” Parker said. 

“Who here plays a brass instrument?” a short, freckled girl that Dylan hadn’t yet learned the name of asked. 

“Just me and Cameron.” Dylan said. “Wait-“ 

The same long note signaled the ring of the intercom, followed quickly by Pat-Ton’s almost overexcited sounding voice. “Your time is up, ultimates! Please come to the front of the building at this time, and for the first time, you’ll get to see the trial room! Don’t dilly-dally!” 

The group all got up and walked uneasily out of the room, with Dylan staying behind. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking down at Trevor, knowing fully well that Trevor couldn’t hear him. “I know it isn’t my fault, but. . . I shouldn’t have let it happen at all.” He walked slowly out of the room before turning back one last time. “I’ll catch whoever did this. I’ll make sure they get what they deserve. No one should have taken this seriously. . .” 

He followed the others to the end of the hallway and kept heading straight, turning left to head straight into a set of glass double doors with led into a room that he hadn’t remembered being there. 

There were twenty podiums, all positioned in a wide circle, each with someone’s name on it. Against the wall and elevated in the back was a chair that looked sort of like a throne, and sitting on it was none other than Pat-Ton itself. 

~~~~ 

August 7th, 2020, 2:30 PM 

Pat-Ton: “Everyone, find your podium and stand at it please!” 

[𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵.]

Pat-Ton: “You will now be given one hour to discuss the evidence in the case and come to a conclusion of who the killer is. Don’t be afraid to speak up if you think of something, all opinions count. Ready. . . begin!” 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.]

Lili, hesitantly: “So what do we know so far?” 

Gabby: “It looks like he was poisoned. Dylan found a cup under the bed, presumably dropped, and it had valve oil in it.” 

Audrey K: “So we’re looking for someone in band.” 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘬𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘦, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯.]

Ashlyn: “We didn’t get enough time to go down to the band hall and check to see who’s oil was missing.” 

Gabby: “Keep in mind that the it didn’t have to come out of someone’s instrument case. The closet in there has oil too.” 

Audrey K: “Who here plays an instrument that needs valve oil?” 

[𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰.]

Preethika: “Which means they’re our main suspects. Trevor’s body was found around two PM today. Do either of you have an alibi for where you were at that time?” 

Cameron: “I was in one of the classrooms, down the other hallway. Jude, David and Wade were there, they can tell you.” 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.]

Zoë: “What about you, Dylan?” 

Dylan: “I was in the band hall all morning, up until probably around eleven, and then I headed back to my room..” 

[𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.]

Dylan: “A group of us were playing music together. Just vibing, y’know? You can ask them, they were all there. After a while, we all left, and none of us took anything with us.” 

[𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵.]

Carter: “Who do you mean by ‘they?’” 

Dylan: “Uh, Audrey, Gabby, Parker and Cameron. Oh, and Ethan came and listened to us.” 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯.]

Lili: “Did Ethan leave with the rest of you?” 

Parker: “No, he. . . he stayed behind.” 

Ethan: “What are you implying, Parker?” 

Parker: “That you took valve oil from the band hall after everyone else left, and you slipped it into his drink at lunch.” 

Ethan: “What makes you so sure it’s me, huh? Why not Dylan? He’s the one who owns valve oil, and the one who doesn’t have a concrete alibi as to what he was doing after leaving the band hall! I don’t even know where to get that stuff from, I’m not in band!” 

David: “Ethan.” 

Ethan: “What?” 

David: “Empty your pockets.” 

Ethan: “Why? It’s obvious I didn’t do it, just look at Dylan! He’s the one in band, he’s the one that uses the oil!” 

Dylan: “Dude, that’s kind of racist. Is it because I’m Mexican?” 

[𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘴.] 

[𝘗𝘢𝘵-𝘛𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦.]

Pat-Ton: “Ethan, you’ve been asked to empty your pockets for the sake of the trial. If you don’t do it, you’ll immediately be killed for your inability to comply with my instruction!” 

Ethan, under his breath: “What difference does it make anyways. . .” 

[𝘏𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.]

Wade: “Your jacket pockets too.” 

[𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴.] 

[𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘪𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘈 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘱 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.]

Audrey E: “How did you get th-?!” 

Parker: “What happened to ignoring the game and finding a way out?!” 

Carter: “Jesus, not so soon-” 

Pat-Ton: “Everyone, quiet!” 

[𝘗𝘢𝘵-𝘛𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘱.]

Pat-Ton: “Ethan, would you like to say something to defend yourself?” 

Ethan: “I’m not going to defend myself. You guys aren’t stupid, you can tell I did it. I just wanted to leave. I wanted to get everything over with and get out of here. I should’ve known it wouldn’t work.” 

[𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘢𝘵-𝘛𝘰𝘯.]

Ethan: “Are you happy? You get to kill me now, is that what you wanted?” 

Pat-Ton: “It all comes down to what everyone votes. Is everyone here ready?” 

[𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵.]

Pat-Ton: “Choose wisely!” 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯.]

Pat-Ton: “Well, that’s everyone! Why don’t we get the results put up on screen here!” 

[𝘈 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴. 19 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯, 1 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯.]

Pat-Ton: “Congratulations, ultimates, you’ve voted correctly! Ethan Piburn was the killer! He will now endure his very own punishment and execution!” 

[𝘈 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘭𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵.]

~~~~ 

August 7th, 2020, 2:57 PM 

The screen on the wall changed from the votes to what appeared to be a live video feed. It was black, for just a moment, before it lit up and showed a dark room, in which there was nothing but a stage with two podiums on it. Ethan stood at one, and the other one remained empty. A black strip of what appeared to be ribbon was wrapped around his neck, though he didn’t seem to take notice. 

“Alright, Ultimate Debater,” Pat-Ton's voice echoed. “Argue.” 

Ethan opened his mouth and began talking, challenging Pat-Ton, but as soon as he did so, a voice spoke over him. He stopped, because as soon as he started, he had felt the black strip around his neck tighten slightly. As he stopped, the voice stopped as well. Ethan resumed his talking, and the other voice did too. Ethan didn’t stop this time, however, and kept going, and as he did, more voices began overlapping on top of his. He kept talking, raising his voice, and regardless of how loud he was, regardless of him yelling at the top of his lungs, he couldn’t be heard. As he continued, the ribbon around his throat tightened even more. His face paled, and he stopped talking, grasping at the ribbon, but it wouldn’t budge. He couldn’t breathe anymore. 

His body fell to the floor of the stage and the light dimmed, the screen turning black. 

Lili looked away. She didn’t want to have to consider what would happen in the future. 

~~~~


	4. 𝕡𝕚𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕕, 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕕

August 7th, 2020, 3:47 PM 

Lili fell backwards onto her bed, lying across it horizontally, her arms and legs splayed out lazily. 

“Did you ever get your Ultimate?” Bria inquired. The two girls had been sitting together since the trial’s end, discussing its contents and their lack of will to participate in the game. 

“No, I’m not sure why it’s taking so long. Most people have theirs by now, right?” 

“I think so,” Bria answered. “I got mine before the trial today- Ultimate Pen Collector.” 

“Weird. How did you get it?” 

“I’m not sure. It just sort of came to me, and I knew it was it. It sort of kept nagging at me, and I couldn’t get it out of my head. I’m sure yours will come eventually, just give it some time.” 

“I hope you’re right,” Lili responded. 

The day slipped into the evening, with everyone feeling uneasy about the day’s events, and one by one, people trickled off to bed. By the time the curfew of 9:30 arrived, the building was silent, and all the ultimates had fallen into their own light slumber. 

~~~~ 

July 15th, 2020, 11:37 PM 

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺? 𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘴.” 

𝘈 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 

“𝘏𝘮, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥? 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.” 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦. 

“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥?”

~~~~ 

August 8th, 2020, 11:48 AM 

Dylan woke up in a cold sweat, the dream’s last line still echoing in his mind. After the events of the trial, he returned to his own bedroom and promptly fell asleep, regardless of the time, electing to ignore what all happened and sleep until the next day came. The group had all seen their first true demonstration of what the game was capable of, and the prospect of having to do that again was nearly sickening. 

The dream. . . what had he just seen? The Mastermind had been there, but Dylan hadn’t been able to see them well enough to decipher anything about them. Their voice had been hidden, and Dylan was left with no clues as to who they could be. 

Exasperated, he got up, ignoring the mildly disheveled state of his appearance, and left the room, seeking out something else to do. Having gone to the band hall the day before, he took a left at the end of the hallway, intending to explore around the other open hallway of the building. He walked down it, reading the names on all the little plaques and peering through all the open doors. Though it had been fairly obvious they were in a school building, the layout of each room only confirmed it- most of them were lined with desks, with most having a projector and whiteboard as well. As he reached the farther end of the hallway, he noticed a couple rooms had their lights on. Cameron, Jude, David and Wade were all sat either on a green couch or chair in a room with the name “MORALI” outside of it, each talking in hushed voices. Dylan kept walking, approaching the next room, labeled as “LINDSEY.” Inside were Audrey K, Preethika and Gabby. What looked to be a messily sketched graph with a parabola on it was drawn on the whiteboard, with writing all around it. Preethika and Gabby were discussing the contents of whatever problem they were trying to solve, and were evidently not coming to the conclusion they wanted, all while Audrey watched and scribbled something down on a piece of paper. 

Dylan turned out of the doorway after a moment of watching, and walked to the very end of the hall, approaching the very last door with a light. The room was labeled as “DICKERSON,” and was full of computers. He let out a slight chuckle at the name and walked into the room. The actual ceiling lights in the room were off, and the light he had noticed from the hallway was from one of the computers. It was turned on, and the screen was bright white, with nothing on it. He sat down in the chair in front of it and fiddled with the mouse, only for nothing to happen. He held down the power button and watched the screen go black before turning it back on. As he waited, Dylan heard a shuffling sound behind him, and turned to see someone walk out of the room, catching no more than a glimpse of their hand as they rounded the frame and disappeared into the hallway. Someone had been in the room when Dylan came in and they had hidden themselves upon his entrance. 

He quickly stood and walked over to the door, looking out and down the hallway to see that no one was there. Dylan was about to leave the classroom to find them when the computer he had turned back on emitted a strange sound, almost staticky in nature. He turned back and faced the computer to see that the screen was working now, and had opened inside of some sort of coding application. The screen was mostly black, with small green writing across the top. 

Resigning his will to find the person who had been in the room, he sat back down in front of the computer. 

“Startup successful. Please enter first name,” he read out loud. 

𝘋-𝘺-𝘭-𝘢-𝘯

“‘Name incorrect, please try again. . .?’ What. . .- oh.” 

𝘌-𝘳-𝘪-𝘤-𝘬

“‘Welcome to the interface.’ Um, cool, okay. ‘Possible commands are as follows: 

/help 

/file 

/game 

/quit.’” 

/-𝘩-𝘦-𝘭-𝘱

“‘This is the interface.’ Helpful, wow, thanks for that I guess,” he muttered. 

/-𝘨-𝘢-𝘮-𝘦

On the screen appeared a box, in which stood a little pixelated man. 

“An actual game, okay. Again, very helpful.” 

/-𝘧-𝘪-𝘭-𝘦

The first thing he was met with was a picture of himself; a faked smile, formal clothing, and a blue background. He scrolled down on the page to see information on himself. His full name, his ultimate, his birthday. . . everything was there, all on his own file. At the bottom, entered as a footnote, it read: 

“𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦-𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴. 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳.”

“Really being called out here, Jesus Christ. . .” Dylan commented. 

Below the paragraph footnote was another. 

“7//𝘔𝘊- 𝘚𝘜𝘙𝘝𝘐𝘝𝘌𝘚[?]”

“Whatever that means. . . “ 

/-𝘲-𝘶-𝘪-𝘵

Unnerved, Dylan left the room. There was more to this game than the twisted will of the mastermind. All of the ultimates were just puppets, strung up on the strings of the mastermind’s control. They had no say in anything they were doing, almost as if it had all been planned. 

And the dream. . . what had the dream meant? He had almost seen the mastermind. They spoke out loud, and though he hadn’t been able to hear what they said, the responses from the council member gave him a decent idea. They had insinuated the game, and whoever the group of adults had been allowed it to become reality. 

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?

~~~~ 

August 8th, 2020, 4:56 PM 

Cameron sat back down in the green chair, having left the room to grab a bottle of water from the cafeteria. Jude, David and Wade were sitting on the green couch to his left, talking about whatever nonsense came to mind. He was about to stand back up and find something else to do with his time when someone else walked into the room. A girl whose name he believed was Morgan stepped in, followed by Lili and a brunette he hadn’t spoken to. 

“You said you wanted to come here,” Morgan said to Lili. 

“Yeah, something about it just feels. . . familiar. Kind of reassuring, I guess. Does that make sense? Bria, you feel it too, right?” 

“It doesn’t feel any different from the others,” Bria said in response. 

“Whatever. It does to me.” 

“Do you guys want to check out the next room over? The light is on,” Morgan asked. 

Bria nodded, and she and Morgan began to walk out of the room. 

“Lili, are you coming?” Bria inquired, turning back to face her. 

“Yeah, I’ll uh. . . I’ll be there in just a sec, just give me a minute here.” 

The other two left the room, leaving Lili behind in Morali’s room. She walked over to Mission Possible and started examining the structure, leaving the room in an awkward silence at her unprecedented arrival. 

After a moment, Cameron spoke up. 

“I know what you mean.” he said. “When you said it feels different. There’s something about this room. . . it seems more special than the rest. I don’t know what it is.” 

Lili approached the desk next to the table Mission Possible was on top of and sat down in the chair behind it. 

“Do you think. . .” she started. “Do you think that we all go to school here? I mean, I would be surprised if we didn’t. The supervisor ‘Pat-Ton- person. . . thing, I guess, said there would be ‘mind games’ involved. It only makes sense for us to go here. Maybe we were all friends at one point?” 

“I doubt we were all friends,” Jude said. “No offense, but I think we’re all so. . . vastly different, there’s nothing that would really bring us all together to be friends.” 

“Maybe we all had a few classes together or something,” Wade added. 

“Maybe. . .” Cameron muttered. “It would make sense, if you think about it.” 

The group sat and talked for a while, joined shortly by Olivia and Audrey K. They all talked into the evening, and by the time curfew rolled around, they all returned to their rooms, just as they had the night before, fortunate that the day hadn’t brought any more death. 

~~~~ 

August 8th, 2020, 11:24 PM 

Lili’s eyes opened. She hadn’t been sleeping very well, and she wasn’t surprised she woke up in the night. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and slipped her shoes on, leaving the room. She knew there was a curfew, but she hadn’t seen any signs of it being enforced, so she didn’t worry about getting into trouble with the game supervisor. 

Though all the lights had been turned off, she walked up the same hallway she had explored earlier, intending to look farther into it under the cover of darkness. She stood in the doorway of Morali’s room, gazing into it, before turning around and walking into a room labeled as “TINGLE.” She flicked the light on to reveal a science lab, with no desks, and tables in their place. 

The first thing that caught her eye was a cabinet in the corner of the room. On it, in expo marker, was written “Science Olympiad,” with names scribbled all around it. Upon further inspection, she found that she recognized some of them. 

‘𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘥,’ ‘𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘜𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦,’ ‘𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘪 𝘔𝘤𝘨𝘦𝘦. . .’ 

‘𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘰𝘯.’

She reached up and erased Trevor’s name from the board. Though she hadn’t spoken to him, it felt wrong to leave his name there. 

As she was turning to leave from the room, the loud buzz of the intercom sounded, causing her to jump. Pat-Ton's mechanical voice spoke. 

“𝘈 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥! 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘩𝘦!”


	5. 𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕟 𝕠𝕟 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖

August 8th, 2020, 11:37 PM 

Cameron bolted up. He had already been sleeping lightly, and the loud call of the intercom had easily woken him up. 

“𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦! 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘺!”

Cameron stood, not looking forward to the investigation. It had only been a day since their first trial. . . someone else had already acted, and taken the game into their own hands again. He hadn’t expected it to come so soon after the first time. And now someone else was dead. 

𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘦. . . 

He walked out of his room, hesitant, and into the hallway. The lights were dimmed due to it being the middle of the night, and the rest of the ultimates were stumbling around, half asleep still, unwilling to be up at this time. Cameron was wide awake, however, and alert. Someone had died, and he was surrounded by people, any of which could be the murderer. He wasn’t letting his guard down. 

Cameron walked through the quiet hallways and reached the kitchen door. A few people were already in there, talking in harsh whispers. With a deep breath, he pushed open the door to reveal the scene. 

Zoe was consoling Olivia, who was shaking, her face white with terror. On the ground by their feet, he saw Randi. Her eyes were open and expressionless, and blood was stained through the front of her sweater. 

Cameron kneeled down to her and gently shut her eyes, not willing to face her dead gaze. 

“What happened?” he asked, standing up and turning to Olivia and Zoe. 

“I-I walked in here,” Olivia began. “Because I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to bake something, y’know, something to just keep my mind off of things. I walked straight back into the pantry area, where all the actual food stuff is kept. I pulled a few things out and came over here, sat them on the counter, and then I saw them.” 

“Them?” Audrey E asked. Most of the other ultimates had made their way into the kitchen behind Cameron, and some of them were listening in on the conversation while the rest talked in nervous whispers in the back. 

“Y-Yeah. . .’them.’” Olivia stepped back and gestured forwards. Cameron stepped ahead to see what Olivia was talking about. 

Ashlyn was lying on the ground as well, next to the oven. The oven’s door was open, and the side of her face was burned. Blood trickled down her forehead. 

“I guess that’s what made it a ‘special one. . .’” he muttered. 

Cameron looked away quickly, not wanting to examine the scene any further, though he knew he would have to. 

“Well uh. . . what do we think happened then?” Morgan asked. She looked as nervously pale as Olivia, though most of the ultimates in the room did. 

Dylan stepped forwards hesitantly, looking down at the scene. There was a kitchen knife on the ground, by Randi, it’s sharp end tinted red with blood. 

“She was stabbed,” Dylan stated. 

“Good observation. Wouldn’t have guessed that was what happened,” Lili snapped in response. 

“What about Ashlyn? What happened there was pretty brutal-” 

Wade’s inquiry was cut off by the buzz of the intercom, followed by Pat-Ton's voice once again. 

“𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘱! 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵!”

~~~~ 

August 9th, 2020, 12:00 AM 

[𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘗𝘢𝘵-𝘛𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦.]

Pat-Ton: “Alright Ultimates! You have one hour to come to your conclusion, just like in the last trial! Remember, if the majority doesn’t vote for the correct killer, then all of you but the killer will be murdered with no hesitation! Your time begins now!” 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯.]

Jude: [𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵]. “So what do we have so far?” 

Audrey E: “Well. . . two more people are dead. This broke one of the games rules, right? You’re not supposed to kill multiple people?” 

Pat-Ton: “You’re correct! Rule two states that you can’t murder more than one person at a time!” 

David: “So is there not any punishment for breaking one of the rules?” 

Pat-Ton: “Oh, there is now! Regardless of your vote, the killer will be murdered because of their violation! You still have to figure it out though, because if you vote incorrectly, all of you will die, including the killer, and by that point, no one gets out alive!” 

Morgan: “But you just told us that it worked like a normal trial, and that the killer could survive?!” 

Pat-Ton: “I won’t tolerate any rule-breaking! And since David here was so kind as to suggest that the rule-breaker be punished, then they will be!” 

David: “Wait, that isn’t- no, that’s not what I meant, you can’t just do that-” 

Pat-Ton: “Why, yes I can! I’m the game supervisor, I can do whatever I want! I would suggest you get to talking though. After all, you don’t want to waste your precious trial time!” 

[𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨].

Zoe: “Well. . . we know that Randi was. . . [𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘴] she was stabbed. There was a knife next to her. . . but what about Ashlyn? All we could really see before the time was up was that her face had been burned.” 

Gabby: “Could she have. . . ah, god, this is terrible to consider, but could she have had her face pushed up against the oven door? To the point of where the third degree burns killed her?” 

[𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵- 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦.]

Cameron: “There was a bit of blood that had run down her face. It wasn’t from the burns because it came from the top of her head, and the burns were only on the side of her face. There was another source of injury that, when coupled with the burns, may have helped kill her.” 

Parker: “What was it though?” 

Audrey K: “Judging from what Cameron said, it sounds like blunt force? It can draw blood depending on how hard it was.” 

Olivia: “Oh, if this will help- I noticed there was a chair that had been knocked over. I’m not really sure how that would be useful. . .” 

Morgan: “Hi ‘not really sure how that would be useful,’ I’m dad.” 

Lili, mildly exasperated: “It isn’t a good time for jokes, two people have died.” 

Morgan: “Sorry, I found out today I’m the Ultimate Comedian. Keep- uh, keep talking.” 

Preethika: “Anyways. . . she could’ve been hit with the chair? The impact might knock her out, or hurt so badly she can’t move, and then the killer was free to use the oven door.” 

Dylan: “How would the murderer have gotten both Randi and Ashlyn into the kitchen in the first place? Whoever it was didn’t just sneak up on the two of them, they would’ve had to plan the murder. The two girls wouldn’t have just been in there at this time of night, the only person who really has any reason to be is. . . Olivia.” 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳].

Olivia: “I didn’t kill them, I-I swear! I don’t have any reason to! I just went to the kitchen to make something, and then I saw them there!” 

Lili: “Are we not going to point out that a bunch of people were out past curfew? That was one of the rules, which means. . .” [𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨].

Pat-Ton: “Best to stay quiet for your own good, eh?” 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘪, 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘗𝘢𝘵-𝘛𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵].

Bria: “So Olivia, do you have a concrete alibi?” 

Olivia: “Y-Yeah! I just gave it to you!” 

Preethika: “Can the person who discovered the body even be the killer? Is that possible?” 

Lili: “We have to assume it’s possible. . . what if they’re in really bad denial? They could’ve returned to the bodies and felt bad enough that they were willing to turn themselves in?” 

Olivia: “I’m not willing to turn myself in, I didn’t do it!” 

Jude: “She looks like the only reasonable person to vote for here?” 

Carter: “I think we should. It’s really the only thing that makes sense, right?” 

Audrey E: “Do we all agree th-” [𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴].

Morgan: “Listen- just- I-I did it, okay?!” 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘱 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮].

Morgan, trembling: “I asked Ashlyn to meet me in the kitchen once curfew came. I told her I had found how to leave, and that we would leave together and get out of here. She believed me, and came. I told myself I was just going to tell her the exit was through the oven, and I’d close it, and lock her in there and turn it on, but- I panicked, and I messed up, and I heated it before she was there. When she got there, she sat down in the chair you saw, and I was freaking out. I-I didn’t know what to do, and I got this rush of adrenaline and so I managed to pick up the chair she was in a little bit, and I just sort of threw it. Her head hit the wall and she was still for a moment, before she started struggling to stand up. I took advantage of the oven being heated and. . . I’m sorry, I just- I didn’t want to do it, I knew from the moment I started that I would regret it.” 

Carter: “What about Randi?” 

Morgan: “She came in behind me, after Ashlyn was already dead, and it made me panic even more. I knew she had already seen me do it, and there was nothing I could do that would make it worse. . . so I grabbed one of the kitchen knives and got it over with quickly.” 

Dylan: “Why are you confessing? Why tell us all of this? We were about to vote for Olivia. You could’ve gotten away with it. How do we know you’re being honest?” 

Morgan: “I regret it- I regret doing it and I wish I hadn’t. I confessed because I don’t want all of you to die because of me. . . I want you all to beat this stupid, stupid game and get out of here!” 

[𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯].

Gabby: “. . . I suppose it’s time to vote then.” 

Cameron: “Do we all agree on our final answer then?” 

[𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩].

Pat-Ton: “It’s time to vote! Please redirect your attention the screen on your podium and cast your votes now!” 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯. 

16 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦]. 

Pat-Ton: “Well, the votes are in. Congratulations, ultimates! You’ve voted correctly! Morgan Webster was the killer. The Ultimate Comedian will now be executed!” 

[𝘈 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵]. 

[𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯, 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘭𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳].

~~~~ 

August 9th, 2020, 12:38 AM 

The screen on the wall changed from the votes to show a dark room, just as it had last time. A dim light in the room was turned on, revealing that it was completely empty. All that was there was Morgan, sat on the ground, leaned up against the wall. 

For a while, nothing happened. Five minutes passed and Morgan just sat there, looking bored. After a little bit, the room began filling with some sort of gaseous substance, and a pale, white cloud began forming. As more time passed, she began acting more delirious, her soft laughter gradually growing louder. 

“What is that gas?” Dylan asked, facing Pat-Ton. 

“Nitrous oxide,” Pat-Ton answered. “Which is also known as laughing gas!” 

“Laughing gas for the Ultimate Comedian. . . ironic,” Gabby commented. 

“Cruel,” Olivia corrected. “She regrets it.” 

“That doesn’t excuse it,” stated Dylan. 

Morgan’s laughter turned hysteric as the anesthetic began affecting her more heavily. 

“Can that stuff kill you?” Parker asked. 

Pat-Ton laughed. “In high amounts, yes! If the person inhaling it has no access to oxygen, then the gas will suffocate them!” 

They all watched as Morgan stood up, still laughing, and looked directly into the camera, a wide smile across her face. She began coughing, and the wretched sound overtook her laughter quickly. She doubled over, choking, gasping for oxygen, but nothing came, and the video feed cut off just as she collapsed. 

The trial room responded with uproar, everyone throwing their own opinion into the ring, all loudly arguing or talking about Morgan’s fate. 

Dylan stood in the midst of the chaos, his eyes still fixed on the black screen. 

𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.


	6. 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕕𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤

July 22nd, 2020, 7:39 PM 

“𝘔𝘳𝘴. 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬?” 

“𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩?” 

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶?” 

𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘬𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯-𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴. 

“𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘱?” 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘥𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 ‘𝘔𝘳𝘴. 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬,’ 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥. “𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶, 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.” 

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵?” 

“𝘍𝘶𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘯, 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵, 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯.” 

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨?” 

“𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐’𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴.” 

“𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴?” 

“𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴. . . 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩.” 

“𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦?” 

“𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘯, 𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘋𝘦𝘸, 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵. . . 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺.” 

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯?” 

“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭. 𝘐𝘵’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦. 𝘕𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴, 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘦𝘵𝘤. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. . . 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦.” 

“𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴. . . 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?” 

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. . . 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸.” 

“𝘞𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴. . . 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥.” 

“𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.” 

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴?” 

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴.” 

𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨. 

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵. . . 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵?” 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥, 

“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵’𝘴-” 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘳𝘴. 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬’𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦, 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 

“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘸,” 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘵-𝘛𝘰𝘯'𝘴. 

“𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵. . . 𝘐 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘴. 𝘞𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘛𝘸𝘰, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥. 

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨- 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵- 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵. 𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵, 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.”

~~~~ 

August 9th, 2020, 11:14 AM 

“Someone’s going to die-” 

Cameron woke up quickly, unsettled, the first words out of his mouth disappearing into air with no one there to hear them. Somehow, he had dreamed about something that actually happened. The boy in the dream had been right, they could contact the game’s members through dreams. 

Cameron breathed a sigh of relief. There were people looking for the ultimates, trying to help them. They had someone on their side. He had been given a hint of the exit as well. It was down one of the grade hallways, but that was all he knew. Regardless, it narrowed it down a bit. Only two hallways could count as ‘grade halls,’ since they were labeled as such, and so the escape had to be down the seventh or eighth grade hallway. 

The bigger task at hand, however, was that someone was going to die. He hadn’t the faintest idea or clue who or where, all he knew was that it would be today, and he would be powerless to stop it from happening. He decided to return to Morali’s room for the day. Since someone was going to die, he wanted to stay in one place, not wandering around searching for an exit. It would be easier to defend himself in the room he was already familiar with. 

Cameron hesitantly got out of bed, walking over to the vanity in his room. He gazed into the mirror to be met with his own reflection. His eyes looked so tired after all that had happened. No matter how much he slept, he couldn’t help but feel exhausted. He just wanted to leave, and to go back to whatever life he had led before this. Nothing could be worse than being here, just sitting around, waiting for the next person to die and the next trial to come, and the constant anxiety of whether or not that person would be you was terrible to live with. 

“What did we do?” He asked in the mirror, talking only to himself. “What kind of crimes did we commit, or mistakes did we make, that lead to us being here?” 

He looked down and rubbed his eyes, turning away from the mirror, and took a minute to survey the rest of the room. He had looked around the day he woke up, but hadn’t given it much thought since. It was so pitifully blank, with no color. Everything was dull. 

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴. 

With a sigh, he left the room, knowing he wasn’t ready for what the day inevitably would bring, and was on his way to the cafeteria for breakfast when he noticed something odd. 

A dark haired girl, who he believed was called Carter, was walking down the eighth grade hallway. She kept glancing around her, evidently nervous, before looking down again as she kept going at her quick pace. She entered the room at the very end of the hallway, to the left, and her suspicious demeanor naturally prompted Cameron to follow her. 

He walked to the end of the hallway and peeked into the room she had walked into. It was full of computers, and Carter was seated at one, typing quickly. She hummed a comforting little tune to herself, seemingly trying to calm herself. She was acting incredibly nervous, often hitting the backspace key after her shaky fingers made a typo. After a few minutes, she stood up, causing Cameron to quickly move out of the doorway so she wouldn’t see him. His heart pounded as he moved into the room next to the computer lab, afraid he had been seen. He closed the door and peered through the door’s window as Carter walked back down the hallway, letting out a sigh of relief that she hadn’t seen him. Once Cameron decided she was gone, he opened the door and returned to the lab, now with no one else in it. 

He had just sat down at and switched on the computer Carter had been seated at when he heard a sort of shuffling sound outside the room. He stood up and tentatively walked towards the door, unsure of what the sound had just been. 

𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴. . . 

Cameron opened the door, looking out into the hallway to see Carter running down it, rounding the corner at the end and vanishing. He listened intently but heard nothing. 

𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. . . 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. . .

He was about to turn back into the computer lab when he heard another shuffling sound, this time from a classroom just a few doors down. 

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴. . .

And yet he turned back around anyways, his curiosity getting the better of him even though he knew fully well what sight he was about to be met with. He cautiously walked over to the room, seeing it had ‘LINDSEY’ written on the little plaque outside of it, and pushed open the cracked door. 

“𝘈 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥!”


	7. 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕣 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕖𝕟

August 9th, 2020, 1:07 PM 

“What the- oh god. Oh god, holy sh-” 

Cameron’s heart pounded as he surveyed the scene in front of him. He wasn’t surprised by it. The dream had warned him that something would happen that day, and Carter’s suspicious behavior had told him that it would occur soon. Still, he didn’t want to discover it. He didn’t want to be tasked with finding it. 

And yet, here he was, looking at Preethika, hung. He had missed it by seconds, he was that close. . . he could’ve helped her, and yet he failed. He could’ve saved her. 

Pat-Ton's voice over the announcements caused him to jump slightly, alerting everyone of his own discovery. 

“I don’t want to- no, I don’t want to deal with this, I don’t want to be involved-” 

“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 ‘𝘓𝘐𝘕𝘋𝘚𝘌𝘠!’ 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯!”

People began arriving in the room quickly, time already running out. The first to step in through the doorway was Jude, followed shortly by David and Wade. 

“Oh, Jesus, not. . . “ Wade muttered. 

Bria, Lili, Olivia and Audrey K walked in, an air of hesitance about them, and Carter came just behind them. Upon entering the room and seeing what was before her, Carter’s face paled. She mumbled something about being sick and left the room, shaking her head. The rest of the group trickled in, and the ultimates began their discussion. 

“Wait, wait, who. . . who found it though?” Parker inquired. 

“I did,” Cameron answered. Everyone turned to face him. 

“Care to elaborate?” Audrey E asked. 

“I- well, I was looking around, wondering about the supposed exit, and I was in the room a few doors down when I heard a shuffling sound. . . I waited a moment and then I came in here, and I just. . . yeah, you get the point.” 

“Do you think it was. . . I mean, was it a suicide?” Zoë asked quietly. 

“That makes the most sense,” Olivia responded. “This whole game thing is just so much. . . I wouldn’t be surprised if it just got to her head a little too much. She just wanted out. We all do. She just didn’t want to wait for it.” 

“Can you vote that in a trial? Suicide?” Bria asked. 

“Well, I mean. . . we would just vote Preethika as the killer, I guess,” Parker responded. “If it wasn’t that, then I don’t know.” 

“Wait, well- I saw something,” Cameron started. “Someone. She was-” 

“𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵! 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥!”

Just as they had in the past, the ultimates walked to the trial room. As they walked along the hallway, Zoë ran up to Cameron, catching up to him and asking him in a hushed voice. 

“Who did you see? Who was it?” 

“Carter,” he answered, his voice quiet as well, wary of who might overhear before the trial had begun. Zoë shook her head in some form of disbelief and quickened her pace, moving ahead to walk alongside Lili and Bria. They all arrived in the trial room shortly afterwards, each ultimate taking their place at their usual podium. 

Cameron looked around as he stood at his own. There were so many empty stands. People were gone. . . they would never stand there again. As the rest of the students trickled into the room, Cameron stepped away from his own podium and walked up to the one labeled as ‘Trevor Bryson,’ which was to the left of his own. Hung on the back of the podium was a small, mounted photograph of Trevor, with a heavy line drawn over his face, marking out his eyes. Cameron walked around the room and examined the rest of the empty podiums, each of them also having a photo of their respective deceased owner. Cameron shook his head and returned to his own podium, the constant reminders of the dead only bothering him more. 

~~~~ 

August 9th, 2020, 1:20 PM 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯. 𝘗𝘢𝘵-𝘛𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳.] 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘵-𝘛𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴.]

Pat-Ton: “Well hello, Ultimates! Welcome back to our beloved trial room! This trial will work just like before! You’ll have one hour to determine your verdict! I don’t have much else to say that you don’t know already, so let’s get to it! Your time begins. . . now!” 

[𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵.]

Zoë: “Alright, well. . . where do we start?” 

Bria: “Uh. . . who was it that found her again?” 

Cameron: “. . . I did.” 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.]

Audrey K: “. . . And?” 

[𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥.]

Cameron: “Oh, well uh, I was looking around the hallway, and I heard some sounds, so-” 

Olivia: “That’s what you said before. What else happened?” 

Cameron: “I saw her.” [𝘏𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥.]

“She was walking around, she looked really suspicious, I guess. After I heard some shuffling, I looked out of the room I was in and saw her running down the hallway.” 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴.]

Carter: “I- I was just looking for an exit too. I heard the sounds as well and it. . . it scared me. I didn’t want to get involved with it, I didn’t want to find the body or anything like that, and I didn’t want anything to happen to me, so I ran, okay? I’m not ashamed to admit that I was scared.” 

[𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘶𝘱.]

Gabby: “There is, of course, the obvious question: was it a suicide?” 

[𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴.]

Jude: “We have to consider it. If you look at the circumstances, it really makes sense.” 

Audrey E: “We can’t just go with that though.” 

Zoë: “Yeah, we’ve got to make sure there’s no possibility of someone else being the killer, otherwise. . . well, we’d all certainly regret it.” 

David: “If we vote for the wrong killer, no one will be around to regret it.” 

[𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮.]

Wade: “Which is why we need to make sure we evaluate all our options and vote for the right person.” 

Dylan: “Cameron, what was Carter doing that made her look so suspicious?” 

Cameron: “Well, when I walked down the hallway, I saw her ahead of me. She was looking around her really quickly, and kept her head down when she wasn’t looking. She walked really quickly as well, and just. . . her overall demeanor, I guess.” 

Lili: “What room were you in when you heard the shuffling, Cameron?” 

Cameron: “A computer lab. I think the name outside the door was Dickson or something?” 

Dylan: “Dickerson.” 

Cameron: “Yeah, that one.” 

Lili: “And what room were you in, Carter?” 

Carter: “The one next to Lindsey’s, with the green furniture. Morali’s?” 

Jude: “No she wasn’t.” 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳.]

Jude: “I was in there. So were David and Wade. She never was.” 

Wade: “He’s right.” 

David: “The door was closed, we didn’t hear anything, and no one else came in.” 

[𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯- 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭.]

Parker: “Carter, where were you really?” 

[𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺.]

Olivia: “She had to have been in the room.” 

Audrey K: “The room where it happened.” 

[𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵.]

Gabby: “Carter.” 

[𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.]

Gabby: “Carter, did you do it?” 

[𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭.]

Dylan: “I think we’ve found our killer.” 

Bria: “Can we vote then?” 

Zoë: “Hold on. . . we need to at least piece the story together. We can’t go off voting without completely understanding what happened.” 

Lili: “So Cameron was in Dickerson’s room when he heard the sound. Carter was in Lindsey’s room with Preethika.” 

Jude: “Carter somehow got Preethika unconscious and managed to. . . do the. . . thing, yeah.” 

Gabby: “And then she ran.” 

Carter: “. . .” 

David: “Carter, saying nothing is only going to make it worse.” 

Zoë: “You can defend yourself.” 

Carter: “. . . I didn’t do it.” 

Jude: “But you did, you blatantly lied-” 

Bria: “Let her talk, Jude.” 

Carter: “I didn’t do it, I didn’t. . . I don’t have any proof, I don’t have anything else to say, you just have to believe me.” 

Cameron: “We have to vote. We won’t get a confession out of her, and our time is running out. We’re all in agreement?” 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴, 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴.]

Carter: “I didn’t do it! I didn’t! You’ve got to believe me, I didn’t-” 

Pat-Ton: “You can only vote if you’re all in unison and you have a confession from the killer, or time has run out. Since someone is protesting the vote, you can decide to overrule them and vote if necessary. Do you all overrule her protests and want to proceed to the vote?” 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 ‘𝘺𝘦𝘴’, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘝 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳.]

Pat-Ton: “Aaaaaaand the votes are in! 13 votes for the Ultimate Singer, Carter, and 1 vote for Preethika, the Ultimate Mathematician! It seems the majority voted correctly, because Carter Stacy is the killer!” 

[𝘈 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.]

Carter: “No! No, I didn’t do it! Please, you can’t just kill me! 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵, 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘝 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.]

~~~~ 

August 9th, 2020, 1:48 PM 

Carter was standing on a stage, the same stage Ethan had been on. The two podiums were there, and she stood between them facing a panel of three faceless, robotic judges all sitting at a table. 

“Go ahead and sing something for us, won’t you?” the judge in the middle said, their voice sounding like Pat-Ton's: mechanized and inhuman. 

Carter shook her head in response, her whole body rigid. Fear had grasped ahold of her, and she could hardly move. She couldn’t bring herself to speak. She just didn’t want to die. 

“Sing. Now,” the judge on the left commanded. 

Carter’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. The room was eerily silent as she closed her mouth, looking confused, and tried to sing again. 

“Is there something wrong with the TV?” Bria asked Pat-Ton. “We can’t hear anything.” 

“Nope! There’s nothing wrong! It’s part of the execution!” 

Carter, alone on the stage, surveyed her surroundings, looking around. She ran towards the judges panel, a mix of anger and fear on her face, and as she approached it, it vanished, turning into some type of fog that lifted quickly. She stood where the table had been moments before, and tried to shout, but there was no sound. Her voice was gone. She was confused, alone in a room she knew she would die in, and she couldn’t be comforted by the one thing she treasured so deeply about herself. 

Carter ran back over to the stage and climbed back up on it. She stood there and managed to knock over one of the podiums, the same one Ethan had argued at just days before. It made no sound either. She looked around again, her expression frantic, and started trying to yell the same thing over and over again. 

“Let me out! Let me out!” she mouthed, still emitting no sound. She saw no way out. There was no way to die, she saw nothing around her that posed any threat. 

She kicked the other podium off the stage and stood in the middle of it, seemingly calming down a bit. She tried to say one last thing before the first sound since the judge’s spoken words played through the television 

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the room. Carter reached up to her neck, her face white and fearful. A small red dot had appeared on the front of her neck, and blood trickled down from it. She collapsed onto the stage, retching, and the TV screen went black. 

“Oh my god,” Olivia said quietly. “She was shot. . .” 

“. . . through the vocal cords,” Gabby finished. 

“And that,” Pat-Ton began. “Is the end of the Ultimate Singer, Carter Stacy!” 

The room was silent. None of the students could pull their eyes away from the black screen. 

Lili was puzzled by the outcome. Carter had killed someone, yet she was still in denial over it, up until the moment she died. 

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵. 

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.

Though no one had been able to hear, Lili knew exactly what Carter’s attempted last words had been. 

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘦.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one got a little darker, my bad, guys. the original way they would convict carter was because of rope burns on her hands, but i had done physical evidence of murder already with ethan, so i changed it up a bit so cameron would sorta see it happen and there would be no confession (gotta get diversity in the trials, wooo writing), and in the process never changed how preethika died. it was a little much, and i'm not going to kill someone that brutally again because i don't want to do that :P


	8. 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕟

August 10th, 2020, 8:30 AM 

“𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴! 𝘗𝘢𝘵-𝘛𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴! 𝘕𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥. . . 𝘺𝘦𝘵! 𝘐’𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦! 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘈𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰, 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺! 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 ‘𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦,’ 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦! 𝘈𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴! 

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯, 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺! 𝘛𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘩-𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭! 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦! 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯!”

The hallways were filled with muffled whispers as people began leaving to see what the new developments were about. Most came from either the cafeteria, where they were having breakfast, or their own bedroom, where they had fully intended to sleep in. Everyone was uneasy. All the events transpiring around them so quickly was exhausting, and the undeniable stress was wearing everyone out immensely. 

“What do you think this is about?” Parker asked, jogging to catch up with Dylan as they walked down the seventh-grade hallway. 

“Well, they made it pretty obvious over the announcement that it’s a ‘talent room’ thing, chief,” Dylan responded. He wasn’t in the mood for small talk with someone else, even if it was a friend. He just wanted to see his own room and then go back to sleep. 

“We’ve already got the band hall though,” Parker said as they rounded the corner and pulled the door open to the sixth-grade hall. Parker picked up a wooden door stopper from the ground and used it to prop one of the doors open. The two walked down the hallway together, skimming the plaques on the wall, until Parker came across one labeled as ‘𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯- 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵.’

“Here I go. Wish me luck,” Parker said. 

Dylan nodded in response and watched as Parker opened the door, stepped through it and shut it behind him. Dylan heard Parker say something out loud to himself through the door and smiled. At least Parker was happy with whatever he got. 

Dylan kept walking and found his talent room at the very end of the hallway, the door to which was alone on the back wall. 

“𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘜𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦- 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳. . . here we go, I guess.” 

He pushed the door open and was immediately met by fresh air, and sunlight so bright he had to squint. 

𝘐’𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 

𝘐’𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦. 

𝘙𝘶𝘯.

And he did. He ran through the grass, thinking he found it: the rumored way out that everyone had been longing for. 

It wasn’t until he almost ran into the wall that he realized he was wrong. 

His hands had shot out in front of him as he nearly ran into the rough bricks. They were painted pale blue, and with the light in his eyes, it had looked like the sky. 

Dylan stepped back and rubbed his eyes, letting his eyesight adjust, and looked around. It certainly looked like he was outside. The ground was covered in grass, and the air was no longer still like it was in the building. If he looked up, there was light. Not the fluorescent, white lights in the school, but sunlight. He couldn’t see the light’s source properly without hurting his own eyesight, and after a few minutes of trying, he gave up. Upon further inspection, it was easier to see the painted walls- his eyes just hadn’t adjusted well enough when he first ran out to see. 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦?

Next to the door, there was a sort of elevated podium with a ladder leading up to the top. Dylan climbed up it and looked out over the field, leaning against the bar at the top of the little platform and surveying the field. 

𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥. 

There were white lines painted onto the field, marking where each yard line was. 

𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭.

Dylan climbed down from the drum major’s stand and walked back across the field until he was standing a little to the right of the thirty-yard line, and sat down in silence, listening to the light wind blowing. After a few minutes, the quiet was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and Parker walked out onto the field. 

“Woah- we’re outside, dude, this is it, this is-” 

“Chill, Parker. Don’t get overexcited- I did too, but there’s no way out. It’s fake.” 

Parker glanced around the room and let out a disappointed sigh upon his own further inspection, sitting down next to Dylan. 

“How does this work? It seems so realistic at first,” Parker asked. 

“I don’t know, it’s just some good engineering, I guess. It all certainly feels real,” Dylan responded. “What’s your talent room like?” 

“Eh, nothing really that special. It’s got a bunch of different types of saxophones in it though, so that’s pretty cool. What is this though? What’s your room supposed to be?” 

“Think for a second, Parker. What’s my Ultimate?” 

Parker thought for a second and looked over to the drum major’s podium. 

“It’s the drill hill,” he realized. 

“Yup,” Dylan started. “It’s the drill hill.” 

The two fell silent as they sat there, enjoying the fake outdoors as well as they could. Dylan couldn’t help but think back to Trevor. Though they hadn’t gotten to get very close, he felt as if they had known each other for years. Maybe they had. The game worked in weird ways, and there was some sort of story behind it, what with them being in a school. He probably did know Trevor at some point. Regardless, he didn’t anymore, and his missing friend seemed to leave some sort of hole in him. He missed the short idiot he had known for that brief amount of time. 

For now, however, this was where he was meant to be. Everything felt so right in that moment as he pondered the world this group had been trapped inside. The untidy grass of the field, the cool breeze of the day. How was that breeze even there? He was still inside. There were walls around him. It wasn’t real. . . but god, it felt like it. 

~~~~ 

August 10th, 2020, 8:36 AM 

“Did you ever get your ultimate?” Bria asked as she and Lili walked down the sixth-grade hallway. 

“Nope. I guess I’m about to. . .” Lili responded. “You don’t have to come with me, really, you can go see your own first, I’m not making you.” 

“Eh,” Bria answered. “It’s not like the room is gonna disappear. I know I’m the Ultimate Pen Collector, it’ll probably just have a bunch of art supplies and stuff in it. I want to see yours first. It’ll be on the plaque, I don’t have to go in with you. I just want to see what it is.” 

Lili nodded in response, and the two kept walking until they reached the plaque with Lili’s name on it. 

“𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘔𝘤𝘨𝘦𝘦- 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. What is that supposed to mean?” Lili asked outloud. 

“Maybe it means like. . . binge watching? Like, TV shows and stuff?” Bria answered. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Is that something you’d do?” 

Lili felt that she found comfort in the words “binge-watching” alone, and the concept of doing so made her happy. 

“Yeah. . . that sounds. . . right, actually.” With a deep breath, Lili pushed the door open to reveal her own talent room. 

The room screamed 'comfortable.' It was a movie theater, with a couple of rows of recliners all facing a large TV screen. The TV was on, and a variety of different programs were options- 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘹, 𝘏𝘶𝘭𝘶, 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘛𝘶𝘣𝘦, 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘗𝘭𝘶𝘴. . Anything Lili could want to watch was there at her disposal. Sat on one of the recliners, right in the middle of the front row, was a remote. 

“Oh my god,” Lili said quietly. “Oh my god! This is awesome!” She ran over to the recliner with the remote on it and sat down, using the remote to maneuver the TV’s apps. She selected Netflix and laughed happily, bewildered by the amount of things she could watch. 

“Bria! This is so cool!” 

Bria laughed in response at Lili’s happiness. They both needed some light in their lives after what all had happened. 

“Before we settle in, do you want to look around a bit more?” Lili asked. “Go see yours, maybe? 

“Sure,” Bria answered. “Let’s go check it out!” 

The two left the room and looked around the hallway more until they found Bria’s, which happened to be right across from Lili’s. 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬- 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳. 

“That’s convenient,” Bria said as she opened the door. She was met with a sight so beautiful to her that she couldn’t speak, and her mouth hung open in bewilderment. 

The walls were lined with plastic drawers that she could see through, and inside were different varieties of color-coded pens. They were everywhere around her, and she was surrounded by them. Against the far wall there was a desk, in front of what might’ve been the only window in the entire building. Light shined through it, but Bria couldn’t see anything. Just light. On the desk, there was a small vase with fresh flowers in it. There were a bunch of shelves under the desk, which were filled with all different sorts of paper, and a few drawers on the sides filled with various other craft items- tape, scissors, etc. 

“I love it,” Bria said. “I love it so much. . .” she squealed in excitement and walked over to one of the walls of drawers, opening different ones to find what she was looking for. 

“Pink flare pens, pink flare pens. . . ah, here they are!” She triumphantly pulled a pink flare pen out of one of the open drawers and approached the desk again. She pulled out a white sheet of paper from one of the shelves under the desk, wrote ‘𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢 & 𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘪 :)' on it in a neat printed handwriting, and used tape to hang it on the window. 

“There! Now there’s a little more decoration!” Bria exclaimed. She looked around the room again with a happy sigh and turned to Lili. “As much as I want to stay in here, I also want to check out everyone else’s. Do you want to go see what else there is?” Bria asked. 

“Yeah, sure,” Lili said with a smile. It made her happy to see her friend happy, especially in these times where it was difficult to do so. They had both just lost Ashlyn, Randi, and Morgan, who they had grown to be friends with, and it was difficult to process all of it at once. They both needed the healthy distraction. 

They turned out of the room and read over the plaques, looking around for someone else they knew. They came upon Zoë’s room, which had the door left cracked, and the two girls could hear muffled discussion inside. 

“Ultimate Motivator. . . how do you think that works?” Bria asked Lili, reading off of Zoë’s plaque. 

“I guess we’ll find out,” Lili responded. She knocked lightly on the cracked door, which was followed by a “Come in!” from inside the room. Inside was Zoë, both Audreys, Gabby, and Olivia, who all seemed to be consoling Zoë. After a moment, Lili realized why. 

“Your talent room. . . it’s-” 

“I know,” Zoë responded. “I hate it. I hate it so much. I was really excited to see what mine was, but. . .” 

Her discontent with the room was understandable. All there was in it was a stage, with two podiums on it. It looked identical to the one Ethan and Carter had died on. 

“Ultimate motivator. . . like, a motivational speaker?” Bria asked. 

“Yeah,” Zoë responded. “Though I’m not really feeling like one right now. Not after what all has happened, not after this. . .” 

There was an uneasy silence in the room, as none of them knew how to respond. 

“What were the rest of your rooms?” Bria asked, breaking the silence after a moment. 

“Mine is a library,” Audrey K answered. “Because I’m the Ultimate Reader. It’s so cool, the shelves go up super high and there are ladders that get you to the very top, and at the top there’s a little space where you can stand on the shelves, and there’s a couch you can sit on and read, and it’s just. . . it’s so cool.” Her eyes lit up as she explained- she clearly liked her own room. 

“I’m the Ultimate Clarinetist, so mine is just a bunch of music stuff,” Audrey E said. “It’s got a little more than the band hall, and it’s decorated nicely, but other than that, there’s nothing special about it.” 

“Same,” Gabby said. “Though mine was geared more towards string instruments than winds.” 

“And mine was a big kitchen!” Olivia said. “There was so much more than what the cafeteria has, it was so awesome! I actually have some muffins in the oven right now, and. . . wait, how long has it been. . .? My muffins!” And with that, Olivia ran out of the room, leaving the other girls laughing behind her. After some light chatting, the topic once again returned to Zoë’s room. 

“You don’t think it’s the same one, do you? The stage?” Audrey E asked quietly. 

“It couldn’t be,” Gabby responded. “The real one is connected to the trial room. They wouldn’t be able to get the punished person here fast enough, plus, there aren’t any cameras in here, we wouldn’t be able to see the execution without them.” 

“Come on Zoë, we don’t have to stay in here, I know you don’t want to,” Audrey E said. 

Zoë nodded in response. It pained Lili to see Zoë like this. Her usually bubbly and bright personality was being covered up by her own fear. A moment later, as prompted by Audrey E, all the girls left the room, with Zoë closing the door behind them. 

“If any of you guys don’t really like your rooms, you’re welcome to come to mine. It’s a movie theater,” Lili said with a smile. The other girls thanked her and all went off, either back to breafast or bed. 

“Do you want to head back to yours?” Bria asked. 

Lili smiled, telling Bria her answer with just that. The two walked back to the doorway of Lili’s room, and Bria was just about to follow her in when she stopped. 

“Wait, I think I left the lights on in my own room. Give me just a sec,” She turned and walked back through her own door as Lili sat down in one of the comfy recliners. Bria walked back in seconds later, this time with a muffin in her hand. 

“Olivia stopped me while she came down the hallway. She didn’t burn her muffins,” Bria said with a laugh. “I’m not really hungry though, do you want it?” 

“Nah, just sit it down somewhere,” Lili answered. The TV was still on from when they had first found the room. 

“So. . . what do you want to watch?” 

~~~~ 

August 10th, 2020, 8:54 AM 

Cameron yawned as we walked through the entrance to the sixth-grade hallway. He was with Jude, Wade, and David, who all seemed very excited about their talent rooms. 

“Wait, what even were you guys’ ultimates?” Cameron asked. 

“Football Player,” Wade answered. “And David’s the Ultimate Writer.” 

“And I’m the Ultimate Communist!” Jude exclaimed. 

“How does that even work-? Actually, don’t answer that,” Cameron said. 

The group of four walked down the hallway, looking at each plaque. The first one they found from their group was David’s. Inside was a sort of study, full of pens, papers and warm, comfortable lighting. There was a desk in the middle of the room, with a paper and pencil sat out on it, ready to be used. As David walked into his, the others went off to find their own, with Cameron following behind them. Wade’s was, unsurprisingly, a football field, with all the equipment he would need for it. 

Cameron followed behind Jude, curious as to what the talent room for the Ultimate Communist would have. When they came upon it, Jude opened and immediately closed the door behind him, leaving Cameron with nothing more than a glimpse of communist flag on the wall. He could hear Jude’s laughter through the door and decided not to further inquire about the contents of the room. Whatever communist propaganda was in there was Jude’s and Jude’s alone to deal with. 

Cameron walked to the end of the hall and couldn’t find his room, so he walked back down the hall, rereading each plaque. As he neared the front of the hallway again, he found that he had missed is on his way in, as his talent room was one of the first doors on the right. 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘒𝘯𝘶𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯- 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳. 

“Let me guess, a swimming pool?” he muttered absentmindedly to himself as he turned the door handle. He pushed it open to reveal that he was right. The room was larger than the usual classroom size on each hallway, with room for an in-ground pool. It spanned from depths of twelve feet to three, with a buoy line dividing the shallows from the deeper end. It was a couple yards wide and had multiple lanes for swimming laps. 

Unsurprised, Cameron walked over to the pool’s edge and slid his shoes off. He sat down and dipped his feet in the water, which seemed to be at the perfect temperature. 

𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴.

Though he didn’t feel like getting in fully at the moment, he definitely knew he would be soon. He felt an odd lack of stress in this room. The waters seemed to be calming to him, and the cool waves helped soothe his worries over the game’s constant threats. He was comfortable in here, in a room where he was surrounded by the thing he enjoyed. Everything was calm for a moment, and he rested happily in the eye of the storm.


	9. 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕖

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the geometry chat voted, and though it was a close vote, they decided to split chapter nine into two parts, and have nine just be shorter. expect 10 later today!

August 10th, 2020, 9:24 PM 

Lili had returned to her room that night tired. She and Bria had spent the whole day binge watching random Disney movies together, and they both had nearly fallen asleep in the theatre. Once they neared the curfew, they both left the theatre and headed back to their own bedrooms. 

Just as she had every night, Lili had trouble falling asleep. After about an hour of staring at the ceiling with her mind blank, she closed her eyes, hoping something would happen. After another hour without success, she began thinking, resigning herself to her own thoughts. 

𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵. . . 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺. . . 

𝘐’𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥. 

𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱. 

𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱, 𝘮𝘦. 

𝘜𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘖𝘳. . . 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱. . . 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬. . . 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵. . . 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳. . .

Bored of her own thoughts, Lili managed to doze off into a light slumber. Her subconsciousness had been trained to stay alert, and wouldn’t allow her much better sleep than that. 

It wasn’t until a couple hours passed that something just had to wake her up. 

The sound of static gradually filled her ears, fading in until it was all she could hear. She shifted uncomfortably in her sleep. 

𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘪. 

𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘪. 

𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱. 

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵.

She caught a glimpse of a lady with a distressed look on her face, who was only replaced with the same pixelated static. 

𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰- 

-𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 

Her voice continued to cut out. 

𝘍𝘶𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦- 

𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩- 

𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢’𝘴- 

-𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱. 

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵- 

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰- 

𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘪.

Lili bolted upright. 

“Oh my gosh. . .” she said to no one but herself. “Oh my gosh. . .” She tried to steady her breathing, which didn’t seem to be successful. 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘐𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘰-?

She heard a loud thump from the next room over. 

𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢’𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮.

Which was followed by a shout. 

𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢. 

Lili burst out of her own room in a fear-fueled frenzy and rushed to the next door over. The door was cracked open. 

Lili shoved it open. 

“Bria?! Bria!” 

Bria was sat on the floor, tears running down her face, a knife clutched in her hand. Lili ran up to her and kneeled in front of her, putting them both on the same level. 

“Are you alright?! What’s happened?!” 

“Lili! Lili, please! I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t! I-I heard the door open, and I was- I was asleep on the other side of the bed, and I didn’t see her, b-but I was scared! I’ve been scared! I didn’t want to use it, b-but I had it just in case, and so I grabbed it, and- and-” 

“Bria, what are you-” 

“She- She attacked me first! I-It was self defense, I didn’t want to do it, Lili!” 

Lili glanced at the knife in Bria’s hand. . . there was something on it. 

Bria trembled in front of Lili. 

“I don’t wanna die, Lili! I don’t want to be executed! I just wanna leave here!” 

Bria glanced to her left before burying her face in her hands. Lili stood and looked around the room, and was greeted by the source of Bria’s tears. 

𝘈 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥!

~~~~


	10. 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕧𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣'𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕟

August 10th, 2020, 11:56 PM 

“Bria, no- you- you wouldn’t have. . .” 

“I-I had to Lili! She tried- She tried to kill me first! I was only defending myself!,” Bria cried. 

“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴! 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘸!”

Lili’s cheeks flushed red. In the midst of her own fear, she had forgotten there was a curfew, not that it really mattered. She and Bria had broken it earlier- it definitely wasn’t very well-enforced, but it also only seemed to matter when it was relevant to a murder. 

“𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴! 𝘋𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 “𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴” 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦! 𝘈𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺! 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯!”

Lili looked down at Olivia’s body. She hated the investigations. She didn’t want to see her, not like that. . . 

Not dead by Bria’s hand. 

Bria stifled her sobs as people began trickling into the room, trying not to bawl in front of them. Whispers spread quickly, and Bria couldn’t let go of the knife. She just sat there, on the floor, her sobs gradually becoming louder, clutching the murder weapon in her hand.. 

“Bria, what happened?” Zoë asked gently, kneeling down to talk to the sobbing girl. 

“I- I was just defending myself!” Bria exclaimed “I didn’t want. . . I didn’t want to. . .” 

Most of the girls gathered around Bria, talking calmly to her, trying to soothe her sobs. 

“You couldn’t have killed her during the day?” Jude asked nonchalantly, with a casual yawn. “It’s really late, I’d rather be asleep right now.” 

“Goodness, Jude! Have some sympathy!” Zoë snapped. “Now is not the time!” 

“Just bringing a point to the table is all,” Jude answered. 

David knelt and inspected the body, rolling Olivia over to reveal the wound in her chest. 

“I guess. . . well, I guess we’re all in agreement then?” Audrey E said. 

“As much as I hate to say it,” Gabby said. “I think this’ll be a short trial.” 

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘔𝘴. 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺! 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦!”

They filed out of the room, leaving Lili and Bria alone. 

“Do you think. . . do you think they’ll still execute me? Even though it was just self-defense?” 

“I don’t know, Bria. . . come on, we need to get going.” Lili held out her hand and pulled Bria up from the floor. 

“You can drop it now, it’s okay,” Lili said. Bria let the knife clatter to the floor and after a moment, hugged Lili. 

“I know. . . I know I might not make it out of this alive, so. . . I’m really glad we got to be friends, Lili,” Bria said, holding her friend close. 

“I am too, Bria. I am too.” 

With a heavy sigh, the two girls walked out of the room and down the hallway, headed to the trail room. 

~~~~ 

August 11th, 2020, 1:10 AM 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘗𝘢𝘵-𝘛𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘶𝘨, 𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦.]

Pat-Ton: “Welcome, Ultimates! I’m glad to see you all here on this lovely morning.” 

David: “It’s 1 AM.” 

Pat-Ton: “And how lovely that is! Anyways, as usual, you’ll be given an hour to discuss the case, though I hardly think you’ll need it. Good luck!” 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢, 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘣𝘴. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘶𝘱.] 

Lili: [𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘢𝘵-𝘛𝘰𝘯] “If someone kills someone else in self-defense, will they still be punished?” 

Pat-Ton: “Why, no! Of course not! They only did it to protect themselves, of course, therefore the only moral answer is to let them get away unscathed!” 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.]

Audrey K: “On that note then, can we give our verdict and end the trial?” 

Pat-Ton: “As long as you’re all in agreement, then yes!” 

Parker: “Do we all agree on it then?” 

[𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮.]

Pat-Ton: “Alrighty then! Time to vote~!” 

[𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘝 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.]

Pat-Ton: “Alright then, how perfect that is! All in unison! You were in fact, all correct, Bria Black was the murderer!” 

~~~~ 

“Now we can all leave, and the trial’s over, right? Since she did it in self-defense, and you said there wouldn’t be any punishment?” Jude inquired, facing Pat-Ton. 

“Of course!” The mech responded. 

However, like a bullet shot through a thinly veiled lie, a chain shot out from the wall and anchored itself around Bria’s leg, pulling her off her feet. The room descended into uproar as she was pulled across the ground and towards the same door so many had disappeared through before. 

As all the protests and shouts sounded in the background, Lili sprinted over to Bria and grabbed her hands as she began being pulled through the door. 

“NO! Bria, no, you can’t- I won’t let-” 

Tears fell quickly from Bria’s eyes as she sobbed, the chain trying to pull as Lili tugged the opposite way. 

“Lili- Lili, you’ve got to let go, y-you can’t stop it. . . “ 

Lili felt her eyes water but refused to let her own tears fall. “I can’t, I-I-” 

“Lili. . . I’ll miss you. . . “ 

Bria’s hands slipped out of Lili’s and she was pulled through the door, which shut automatically behind her, leaving Lili standing alone outside of it. 

“Why would you do that?!” she yelled at Pat-Ton, who remained sitting on the thrown with that same smile etched on his mechanical face. 

“Oh, Lili, poor little Lili Mcgee. . . You should’ve learned not to trust anything I say at this point in the game! We’re what, four trials in now?” 

The TV screen switched from the trial results to black, and Bria’s punishment began. 

~~~~ 

When her eyes opened, she was standing in a garden. It was beautiful, with a large assortment of different types of flowers, their sweet scents filling the air. Bria took a step forward. She was standing on a stone path that seemed to lead to some sort of gazebo up ahead. She walked forwards slowly, taking in the beauty around her. It felt like she was outside. . . maybe she was. The air was fresh, and there was sunlight out. She felt so captivated by it all, she didn’t think back to the game. She just wanted to see what was up ahead. Dismissing the tears on her face, she continued on the path until she reached the little wooden patio. On it, there sat a painting easel with a blank canvas on it, with an assortment of pens and paints in the tray next to it. The entire garden was laid out in front of her. She could create anything she wanted on the canvas. It was just all so beautiful. . . she felt at peace. 

After studying the different flowers she could see, she chose her subject- a red rose a little to her left. She picked up a pen off the tray and studied it- it seemed to be paper-mate, one of her favorite brands. As soon as it made its first contact with the canvas, she felt something tug on her leg. She jumped, thinking it was the same chain that brought her here, but it didn’t sweep her off her feet. She looked down and saw that a vine from the garden had slithered up and wrapped itself around her ankle. She smiled, thinking it was rather odd, and turned back to the canvas, making nothing of it. As she continued to draw, however, she found that something strange was happening to the garden. It seemed its colors were vanishing. . . she watched, horrified, as the plants began dying before her very eyes, all while vines continued spiraling up her legs. She looked around, and was about to run into the garden when she realized she couldn’t move. The vines, which were now withered and colorless like the rest of the garden, had her rooted in place. 

“I can’t- I can’t move,” she stuttered as the vines grew upwards. They wrapped around her arms and torso, restricting all of her movement. 

“I- Somebody! Help! I can’t- help me, please!” The vines continued, reaching up to her neck and face. 

“Someone, please, just help, me, please! Please! I- LILI!” she managed to yell out just as they wrapped completely around her head, sealing her within. 

After a moment, there was a sickening crack sound, and the vines split open and retreated back into the dead plants that surrounded the gazebo. Bria was gone- all that was left in her place was a deep red flair pen, the ink oozing out of the tip. 

~~~~ 

The execution was over. Everyone had left the room. Pat-Ton was gone. She was alone. 

But Lili couldn’t leave. 

She had stared at the TV, dumbfounded, for what felt like an eternity. She couldn’t comprehend it. She wouldn’t comprehend it. Bria wasn’t gone. She couldn’t be. Pat-Ton said nothing would happen to her. They didn’t see a body on the screen. She wasn’t gone. 

If she wasn’t gone, then why did it hurt so badly? 

The door to the trial room opened behind her, but Lili didn’t move. She didn’t want to. She didn’t care. 

“It’s hard. . . isn’t it,” the voice behind her said softly. She turned to see Dylan standing there, hands in his pockets, looking down. 

“Y-Yeah, it. . .” her voice felt broken. She felt broken. 

“I’ll. . . I’ll just go,” he said after a moment. 

As he turned and left the room, Lili fell to her knees and started sobbing. 

As he turned and left the room, Dylan couldn’t help but think to himself. He didn’t know why he had gone back in there. Something about this trial had hit him hard, and though it took a moment, he came to his conclusion. 

𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦.


	11. 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕠𝕝 𝕞𝕖

August 11th, 2020, 1:58 AM 

After the events of the trial, Lili returned to her room and, instead of collapsing onto the bed like she had originally intended to, walked into the bathroom. She pulled the shower curtain back and switched the lever underneath the showerhead from “Off” to “Cold.” As the water flowed, she stepped into the shower, fully clothed, and sat down under the freezing water. She didn’t want to feel anything in that moment. Just be made numb by the water. She didn’t want to take in the reality she was surrounded by anymore. She just wanted to sit there, under the water, and breathe. She sat for hours, contemplating, mourning, and thinking. She pondered the game and she pondered fate itself as she considered both hers and everyone else’s. Why did they get the chance to control someone else’s fate? To end it? It all seemed unfair. 

𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳.

~~~~ 

August 11th, 2020, 11:23 AM 

Very gradually, Cameron woke up. He was stuck in that stage of ‘am I awake. . .?’ for what felt like hours to him. Slowly but surely, his eyes opened, as much as he didn’t want them to. After a lot of internal arguing, he climbed out of bed to face the day. 

He skipped breakfast for the third day in a row and instead, walked down the eighth grade hall, just as he always did, and went into Morali’s room. He wasn’t surprised to see it empty- the others liked sleeping in even more than he did. 

With a sigh, he approached Mission Possible. He picked up one of the golf balls that were sat on the messy table behind him and dropped it into the machine’s first function, watching all the little chain reactions that were set off, one after another. At the end, the ball fell out of the contraption and rolled across the table. It had never been finished, and he wasn’t sure if it ever would be. 

He opened one of the cabinets behind him and pulled down some of his materials, and using the manual he had found, got to work. He could at least try to finish what Erik had started. 

About an hour after he had begun working, Jude came into the room and took his usual spot on the couch, with David and Wade coming in not long after. They sat in an awkward silence for a while, before they started discussing the night’s events, debating the execution of the girl. 

“She didn’t mean it though, that’s the thing,” Wade said. “How can you just execute someone who was trying to defend themselves?” 

“She still violated the game’s rules though,” Jude started. “At the beginning, Pat-Ton said that if you killed someone, you would be executed if you were voted correctly. He didn’t exactly give us specific terms and conditions.” 

“If he did, we probably wouldn’t have listened to them anyways though,” David joked. “The Pat-Ton thing lied too. He said self-defense wouldn’t be executed. . . that’s pretty unepic.” 

“I don’t know, listening to the ramblings of a murder-bot about terms and conditions would seem interesting,” Cameron commented. 

“Speaking of murder,” Wade began. “Don’t you guys just find it. . . weird, how fast this game is going? It’s only been a couple of days, but it feels like weeks, because so much is happening.” 

“These aren’t the type of people who seem like they would kill someone,” Cameron said. “I mean, look around- these are all kids, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 all kids. Look at the people who have been executed- they all seemed so nice, not like they’d ever want to kill anyone.” 

“What if they don’t want to? There’s gotta be some type of motivation or something. . . something that they couldn’t control. I mean, look at this. Everything is happening so quickly. We’re just a couple days in and, what. . . nine people have died? There’s gotta be something more to it than just wanting to leave. Most of these people didn’t have any sort of idea who the mastermind might have been. The really had no reason to kill them at all!” Jude stated. 

“You’re right. This just doesn’t make sense, I guess. People have been scared, that’s the thing. No one would want to just kill someone right after someone else has died,” Wade said. 

“What if they’re being threatened? Somehow? What if. . . what if they’re allowed to remember something, like their family, or a friend, and they’re being threatened, and they have to kill someone to save them?” Jude wondered. 

“That makes sense,” David said. “I mean. . . they aren’t exactly holding back when it comes to killing.” 

Cameron looked back down a Mission Possible, away from the rest of the group. 

“Yeah. . . it makes sense.” 

~~~~ 

August 11th, 2020, 1:58 PM 

After many difficult attempts to get up, Lili managed to drag herself out of bed and make her way to the dining hall. To her surprise, the rest of the girls were in there as well, though they were having lunch rather than breakfast. When she entered the room, they all fell silent for a minute before resuming their conversation as she walked across the room, between two tables, and into the kitchen. 

𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.

Pushing the thought out of her head, she grabbed a banana off the fruit rack and walked back into the cafeteria, sitting down next to Audrey E at the table. 

“How are you feeling, Lili?” Zoë asked gently. 

“If we’re being honest, terrible,” Lili answered. 

“With valid reason,” Audrey E said. 

They all ate in silence, before Audrey K spoke up. “Y’know, I really just. . . I really miss Olivia.” 

“Olivia is the reason Bria’s dead,” LIli muttered angrily. 

“Well, I mean-” 

“No, it’s true!” Lili exclaimed, cutting Audrey K off. “She wouldn’t have had to defend herself if Olivia hadn’t done anything in the first place! She’s a murderer!” 

“Hey, both of you, calm down. . .” Gabby said. “The last thing we need right now is to be divided.” 

“Yeah,” Audrey E agreed. “We can’t be fighting over what’s who’s fault. God knows one of you could end up dead soon, and you two were too occupied arguing to have made up!” 

“She’s right.” Lili said bluntly. “We can’t be fighting over who’s fault it is because we know already! It’s all the mastermind’s fault for putting us here in the first place, and said mastermind could very well be sitting at this table!” 

Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats before continuing. 

“You would think with the amount of people gone, the mastermind would’ve died already, just based off probability. Fifty-Fifty is still good odds,” Zoë said. 

“I think. . . I think they’re doing it on purpose.” Audrey E started. “This is just a guess, but I bet they’re trying to prolong the game. Make it more interesting for whatever sort of sick intentions they have.” 

“Plus, I’m sure the mastermind doesn’t want to die,” Gabby added. 

“Y’know. . . that seemed like a very mastermind-like thing to say, Gabby. . .” Lili said. 

“Are you accusing me?” Gabby shot back. “I was just making a guess, I’m not the mastermind!” 

“Unfortunately.” Audrey E began. “We have no way of knowing.” 

“I’m tired of not knowing,” Lili said. “I want answers! I want to know why my friend is dead!” 

“Don’t we all?” Audrey K responded. 

“Yes! We do, Audrey!” 

Lili stood up, angry, and walked out of the cafeteria, returning back to her bedroom. She was tired, and wanted to sleep, but she just felt so angry. . . 

If she ever found who the mastermind was, she wasn’t going to hesitate to kill them. 

Not after this. 

~~~~ 

August 12th, 2:43 AM 

The day had passed rather quickly, with most ultimates just milling around, going from their talent rooms to the eighth grade hall and back. They claimed to be searching for an exit, but they had given up and finding it long ago, and really, they were just killing time, sitting around like pawns in this big game of chess, just waiting to be knocked off the board. 

They were all perfectly happy for night to come, as their last couple nights of sleep had been interrupted. However, with sleep, there would come something else. . . 

“𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦-” 

𝘈 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘪𝘥-𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳. 

“𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬!” 

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘺! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵! 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮!” 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨! 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥?” 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥. 

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥!” 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴. 

𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 

“𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨?” 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥. 

“𝘔𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥-” 

“𝘈𝘩, 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘳,” 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰?” 

“𝘐’𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱! 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦! 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨!” 

“𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸,” 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵! 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘈 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭.” 

“𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴! 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵!” 

“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺- 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴! 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺. 𝘛𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳.” 

“𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯- 𝘏𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴!” 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴, 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺. 

𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 

“𝘖𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯. . .” 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦.

And with that, Dylan woke up. 

It was still early in the morning, but after numerous attempts, he just couldn’t fall back asleep. The contents of the dream were so strange. . . He had seen that room before, with those people. They were behind the game. And that woman. . . she was just trying to help them get out of there. Cook. . . the name was familiar, he knew he had seen it somewhere. Lindsey seemed familiar too. 

After a moment of thinking, he knew where he had seen Lindsey. 

He sat up and got out of bed, cracking the bedroom door open and peering out into the hallway, which was, luckily, empty. He turned out of the doorway, quietly pulling the door closed behind him, and began walking until he met the end of the hallway. “Lindsey” was the name on one of the plaques on the eighth grade hallway, and he was going to look around her room to investigate. 

He turned to his left and had only briefly stepped forwards before he heard something. 

𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯.

The sound caused him to turn around abruptly, searching for the source. 

“Hello. . .?” he whisper-shouted, before realizing that hearing voices was not something he should be so casual about. 

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺.

The voice called from the other end of the hallway, down towards where the band hall was. Though he debated with himself over whether or not he should follow it, his curious side got the better of him. He began walking the other way, passing the hall of bedrooms. 

𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨.

He kept walking until he was stood at the front of the sixth grade hallway. 

𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳.

Dylan pulled open one of the double doors and stepped into the hall of talent rooms. 

𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨.

He walked along, continuously growing uneasy the farther he walked down it. 

𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱.

He was between two rooms. The one to his right had the door thrown ajar. 

𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳.

And he did. 

𝘈 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥!

~~~~ 

August 12th, 2020, 2:58 AM 

“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳! 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴. . . 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯! 𝘞𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘸! 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 “𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳” 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘲𝘶𝘦! 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯- 𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴!”

“Jesus-” 

Dylan stepped out of the room and leaned back against the wall outside, breathing heavily. He didn’t know what he had expected, what with following a strange voice around, but this wasn’t what he wanted to see. It reminded him too much of Trevor, and he didn’t want to be in the room alone with her. 

Parker was the first to turn around the corner into the hallway, where he spotted Dylan. 

“Dude, what are you doing? I knocked on your door and you weren’t in your room, did you find. . .?” 

“I- Yeah, yeah I did. . . I didn’t mean to find her, just-” 

More people started coming down the hallway- The usual group of girls, followed by Cameron, David and Wade, with Jude bringing up the rear. 

Zoë looked around at the group before they entered the room. 

“Audrey K and Lili are both missing,” she pointed out. 

“Well, I found where one of them is,” Jude said, gesturing through the open door. 

“You hardly found-” Dylan said, cutting himself off as they all filtered into the room. 

The inside was a rather impressive library, the mood of which had been considerably offset by the body on the ground. The shelves reached up high, with ladders lining the various books. There were tables around the room, with a few open books scattered across them. 

“How do you think it happened?” Zoë said, kneeling down to Audrey K’s body. 

“There isn’t much blood,” Wade said. He kneeled down as well. “It looks like she hit her head.” 

“Hold on,” Cameron looked up and surveyed the room. He walked over to one of the ladders that led up the shelves and began climbing it, making his way up to the top. 

“There’s a space up here- there's a couple couches on top of the shelves. She was pushed off!” he yelled down to the rest of the ultimates on the ground. 

“That makes sense,” Jude observed. “It would’ve been easy to do so. Just get up there without her noticing and give her a little shove.” 

“God, Jude, could you be any more apathetic?” Audrey E asked. 

“Apathy is how I cope,” he said with a casual shrug. 

“Um, anyways. . .” Gabby said. “All we need to do is figure out who did it. Look around, guys.” 

“What about Lili?” Zoë asked. “She isn’t here.” 

“That makes her suspicious,” Wade said. “Would she have had any motive to kill Audrey?” 

“Well. . . yes, actually,” Gabby said. ”She and Audrey had a bit of a falling-out yesterday.” 

“That certainly means something,” David commented. 

“Do you think she did it then?” Parker asked. 

“I’m not sure. . .” David answered. 

“We can’t be certain, just look around some more,” Gabby said. 

“I’ll run to her bedroom after the investigation time runs out to see if she’s there. If not. . . well, you’re required to show up to trials. I’m not sure what would happen if she didn’t,” Audrey E said 

“Well, I guess we might find out then,” Parker observed. 

“Poor Audrey. . .” Zoë said. 

The group dissolved and began looking around the library, utilizing the little time they had left. 

Dylan approached one of the tables with books on it. 

𝘈 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺. . . 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 1844. . . ? 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘴.

“Hey guys, these books might-” 

“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭! 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵! 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. . . 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶!”

They all filed out of the room, whispering to each other anxiously. Dylan watched as Audrey turned and ran down the bedroom hallway. He followed behind her, waiting at the hallway’s opening, and watched as she knocked on the door to Lili’s bedroom. Her heard muffled talking, which was followed by Lili, who was clearly disheveled, walking out of the room, walking alongside Audrey back to the front. Dylan turned and followed the rest to the trial room, where someone’s tragic fate would become their tragic destiny. 

~~~~ 

August 12th, 2020, 3:10 AM 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘴. 𝘜𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳, 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥.]

Pat-Ton: “We just can’t seem to stop running into each other now, can we, Ultimates? Well, I’m sure you don’t want to see me just as much as I’m tired of seeing you, so why don’t we get started! To make things a little more interesting, I’m cutting back on your trial time! Instead of the usual hour, you’ll have thirty minutes, just to see what happens. Let’s begin!” 

Wade: “I just want to get this over with. I’m sure we all do, plus, we don’t have as much time. What all do we know?” 

Audrey: “Well, she was pushed off the top of one of the shelves.” 

Gabby: “Although, we don’t know that for sure, it’s more of an educated guess.” 

Cameron: “But a well-made one. How else could she have died?” 

Zoë: “She could’ve been hit.” 

Jude: “There was no evidence of any weapon used.” 

Parker: “It could’ve been hidden?” 

Jude: “I doubt the killer had much time to hide anything. Being pushed is the most likely way it happened.” 

David: “How long was she dead for?” 

Cameron: “Well. . . we don’t know, actually. Who found her again?” 

Dylan: “Uh, I did.” [𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴.]

Gabby: “What were you doing out at that time of night?” 

Dylan: “I- I had woken up. It’s, uh . . hard to sleep, nowadays. I heard a sound, so I followed it and I found the door to her room open.” 

Zoë: “What type of sound?” 

Dylan: “Um. . . like, a weird shuffling.” 

Zoë: “Did you see the killer?” 

Dylan: “No. . . No, I never did.” 

Zoë: “Are you sure?” 

Dylan: “Yes, I’m sure!” 

Zoë: “You seemed awfully nervous to answer my questions. . .” 

Audrey: “Since he found her, he’s innocent- we learned that a few trials ago.” 

Zoë: [𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵.] “I guess you’re right, Audrey.” 

Wade: “The main question is, who did it?” 

Gabby: “As much as I hate to say it. . . our main contender right now is Lili.” 

[𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘪, 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.] 

Lili: “Me?! I-I didn’t kill her!” 

Gabby: “You were arguing with her hours before she died, and you were absent from the entire investigation. Care to explain yourself?” 

Lili: “I-I was just still in bed! I didn’t want to wake up, I didn’t want to do all of this again!” 

Audrey: “You had better motive than anyone else here.” 

Lili: “Why are you accusing me?! We’re friends!” 

Audrey: “I’m not friends with murderers!” 

Jude: “I think I’ve got it.” 

Cameron: “How it happened?” 

Jude: “Yeah.” 

Cameron: “Alright, shoot.” 

Jude: “Because of the recent loss of her best friend, Lili’s been made. . . a little more prone to violence, because of her emotional state.” 

Lili: “No- No I’m not!” 

Jude: “My guess is that after arguing with Audrey earlier, she didn’t want to hear from her anymore, so, caught up in all her grief, she followed her to her talent room in the middle of the night and spoke to her, pretending to make amends, and then pushed her and snuck back to her room before Dylan left his room to see what the sound was.” 

Lili: “I didn’t do it! You don’t have any actual proof!” 

Wade: “She’s right though- this is all just speculation. We don’t have any physical evidence. What did you guys see while we looked around the library?” 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵- 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵.] 

Dylan: “There-” 

Cameron: “Well- oh, sorry, you go.” 

Dylan: “Uh, there were a bunch of books out on the tables. A bunch of horror and mystery, and some weird thing- economics in 1844, or something?” 

Jude: “Economic and philosophical manuscripts of 1844?” 

Dylan: “I- yeah, actually. How’d you know that?” 

Jude: “It’s written by Karl Marx, I'm the Ultimate Communist, I’ve read it- or skimmed it, rather.” 

Dylan: “What’s it about?” 

Audrey: “Is this hardly the time to be discussing communist literature-” 

Dylan: “Just- trust me. What’s it about?” 

Jude: “Uh, well, each of the manuscripts detail different ideas. My personal favorite is a close call between the first and the third. The first is mainly centered towards a critique of capitalism, whereas the third-” 

Dylan: “Okay, lit, that’s cool and all, but how could you remember reading it if our memories were taken away?” 

[𝘏𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴.] 

Jude: “I- uh- I read it during the game! My talent room had a bunch of books in it, and-” 

Dylan: “Or did you skim it in Audrey’s library, while talking with her and building false trust so she wouldn’t be worried when you climbed the ladder and pushed her off the top of the shelves?” 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨- 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.] 

Jude: “I- that’s not true!” 

Dylan: “Maybe, but it’s something. Cameron, what were you going to say?” 

Cameron: “Oh, well- there was a bit of a mess at the top of the shelves. There may have been a struggle- a couple things were strewn around. Also. . . Jude is lying. I’ve been with him almost the whole time since the rooms were open. He was never alone long enough to have read- or even ‘skimmed’- an entire book.” 

Pat-Ton: “Five minutes left! You ought to come to your conclusions quickly, or you’ll be forced to have skewed votes, without coming to your proper conclusion and no one wants to risk everyone dying!” 

[𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮- 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵.]

Zoë: “Hey, everyone! Uh. . . guys? HEY!” 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳- 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥.]

Zoë: “I don’t usually raise my voice, but you guys just wasted half of the time we had left! We all need to come to a mutual decision so we don’t end up getting all of us killed!” 

Dylan: “She’s right. Can we all agree that it’s Jude?” 

Jude: “I didn’t do it, Lili did! I’ve been right since the beginning, she did-” 

Pat-Ton: “Ohohoho~! Looks like I’m cutting your time a little short. No more arguing, I just want to see our final results. It’s voting time, everyone!” 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦- 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳.] 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯: 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘪, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘦.]

~~~~ 

“Aaaaaand the votes are in, and the real killer was. . . Jude Tingle, the Ultimate Communist! The majority guessed correctly, and all of you will live to see another day! Well, all but one of you, anyways. . . ” Pat-Ton exclaimed. 

A cable shot out from the wall and, just like always, pulled Jude off his feet and through the door in the wall- unlike most of the others, he didn’t scream in protest to the fact that he was about to face his own death. 

𝘈𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘦.

The TV’s screen flickered, and it showed Jude standing alone, in a dark room. 

“How are you supposed to kill an Ultimate Communist? Like, with what, tax evasion?” Gabby inquired. 

“Shut up, Gabby,” Wade said, his eyes fixed on the screen as he waited to see his friend’s end. 

There was a shuffling sound on screen, and something flashed pass the camera, scuttling along. Jude turned quickly, seemingly not catching the source. Behind him, however, crept something huge. . . 

A giant spider. 

It tackled him, pinning him to the ground with one of its many legs. 

Lili looked away as Jude’s punishment ensued. As much as she hated losing another person in the game, she was just thankful it wasn’t her. She had come so close to meeting her own end. . . 

𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘺𝘦𝘵.


	12. 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕟𝕦𝕞𝕓

August 12th, 2020, 2:54 PM 

“This is it. It’s nonsense, it’s all nonsense! You know what this is, this is all bulls-” 

“Hey, tone it down a bit, David,” Cameron stated. “We can’t just. . . lose our heads over this.” 

“How are we supposed to not lose our heads?” Wade inquired. “Our friend was just murdered!” 

“He wasn’t- he wasn’t murdered! He was executed because he did something wrong!” Cameron insisted. “He went and killed someone else, knowing what the punishment would be if he was found out, and he was, so he got what he deserved!” 

“But that isn’t what he would’ve done!” Wade exclaimed. “He always went off on his rants about communism or whatever, and though I’m sure we all zoned out a lot, he always talked about his main interest being in the wellbeing of people, his political views were based on what was best for everyone. That isn’t the talk of someone who would murder someone.” 

“But it was, that’s what you have to understand! People here aren’t doing what they would normally do, none of these people are killers! They’re kids! This game warps peoples’ minds, it changes them, and they do stuff they would have never done otherwise, it’s something we’ve just got to accept,” Cameron stated. 

Wade sighed and leaned back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling tentatively. The fate of their friend had been something they all knew deep down could’ve happened to any one of them, and as time went on, the chances of it being one of them grew more and more likely. It was only a matter of time until one of them was the victim. 

𝘖𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳. . .

“It’s not something you want to believe,” David murmured. “That your friend murdered someone.” 

Silence settled over the room. They were all finding it increasingly difficult to gather the will to carry on with the game. Someone sitting next to you one day and being gone the next hits hard. 

“What if. . . what if that thing Jude mentioned was true?” Wade asked. 

“What thing?” David inquired in return. 

“The thing with threatening people you care about. He said that the day before he killed someone. . . maybe it was a warning?” 

“I don’t know. . .” Cameron sighed. “Maybe. . .“ 

~~~~ 

August 12th, 2020, 12:04 PM 

After a long time was trying to fall back asleep, Lili dragged herself out of bed, walking to the cafeteria for breakfast just as she always did, following the same boring, anxious routine. She took a left at the end of the hallway and saw Zoë walking just ahead of her, also seemingly headed to the cafeteria. 

“Hey Zoë,” Lili called out, getting her attention and jogging to catch up with her. Zoë stopped in her tracks when Lili called her name. 

“Uh. . . what is it, Lili?” 

“Nothing,” Lili yawned. “Just. . . want to talk to someone.” 

“Oh, um. . . alright then,” Zoë said. The two walked onwards, and, countering what Lili had wanted, weren’t talking. 

“I think I left something in my room,” Zoë realized as they passed the eighth-grade hall, checking her pockets. “I’m gonna run back and grab it, I’ll see you in the cafeteria.” 

“Alright,” Lili answered. So much for whatever riveting conversation she had planned to have. 

Lili turned to watch Zoë walk back, only to realize she hadn’t moved, as if she expected Lili to keep going first. Without saying anything, Lili kept going. She reached the cafeteria doors and glanced back to see Zoë still standing there. Zoë looked away from Lili quickly, trying to hide the fact she had still been watching her. 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰. . .?

Lili opened the cafeteria door and entered the room, pulling it closed behind her. Audrey and Gabby were sat inside, both seemingly exhausted. Just as Audrey opened her mouth to speak, Lili held her finger up to her mouth in a shushing motion. She waited a moment and pushed the door open just to see Zoë walking down the eighth-grade hallway. 

Lili dashed out of the cafeteria, walking as quickly as she could without making noise. She reached the end of the eighth-grade hall and peered around the corner, watching as Zoë continued walking briskly and entered a classroom at the very end. 

As soon as Zoë was all the way through the door, Lili began walking again, making her own way to the end of the hall. 

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. . .

Lili approached the doorway and peered around the corner, into the computer lab. Zoë was typing away frantically on one of the computers, mumbling nonsensically to herself. 

Without skipping a beat, Lili stepped into the doorway and spoke up. 

“What are you doing? Lili asked. Zoë turned around quickly, her face stricken with fear. 

“I-” 

“You lied! You said you were just going back to your room, and yet here you are!” 

“Lili-” 

“Do you realize how bad this makes you look? You’re just here, typing away on a computer. Are you talking to someone, maybe with the people who put this together, you mastermind!” 

“Lili! I’m not the mastermind!” Zoë insisted. “I-I was just looking around here, I was nervous about the mastermind finding me so I lied! I don’t know who it is, I thought that if it was you then it would be better that you didn’t know I was in here!” 

“Yeah, nice excuse,” Lili sneered. “What are you looking at on the screen?” 

“I was just investigating! I figured some type of answer could be hidden here- but it’s all just cryptic nonsense!” 

Lili walked over to the computer Zoë was sitting at and looked at the screen. It was all black, minus the small green text across the top. 

𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴: 

/𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 

/𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦 

/𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 

/𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵

“I don’t know what any of this means!” Zoë insisted. “I just came to check it out is all! I thought that there being technology here was kind of odd, so I wondered what it did!” 

Lili typed in the third command out of her own curiosity, only for the screen to go black. 

“Wait, what just happened?” 

𝘜𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦.

“User changed. . . does it know you aren’t the one typing anymore?” Lili inquired. 

“I don’t know!” Zoë answered. “It asked me to enter my name when I first came on.” 

𝘓-𝘪-𝘭-𝘪-𝘢-𝘯-𝘢, she typed out. 

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. 

“This is weird. What do you know about this?” Lili accused. 

“For the last time, I don’t know anything! I had just sat down when you came in, I hardly got to type!” Zoë insisted. 

Lili surveyed her options on the screen, though there wasn’t much to choose from. 

/-𝘨-𝘢-𝘮-𝘦

A little pixelated man on a map appeared. 

“What does that-” 

“I don’t know, Lili!” 

Lili took the mouse and dragged it around the screen, and the little man followed. The cursor reached the corner, and as it was pulled offscreen, the man was too. She pulled the cursor back into the middle and the man was no longer there. 

“That’s weird. He’s gone,” Lili observed. She waved the cursor around, with nothing happening. 

“Uh, Lili?” Zoë began. 

“What is it?” 

“Look at the-” she gestured to the monitor to the right of the one they were typing on. The man had appeared on that screen. 

“How did it do that?” Lili asked out loud. Just as she reached for the mouse connected to the next computer, the man moved across the screen until he was out of frame. She glanced over, and surely enough, he was on the next screen over. 

“This is kind of creepy,” Zoë commented. 

“Kind of?” Lili said. “I don’t have a clue what’s going on, look at- wait. He’s gone aga-” 

The man had vanished from the last screen they had seen him on, and wasn’t present on the next one either. Lili stood and looked around, spotting him on one across the room. 

“How on earth is-” 

Before Zoë finished her sentence, they both heard a loud slam behind them. They turned to see the lab’s door had been pulled closed. Lili dashed over and tried to open it again to no avail. 

“Zoë-” 

The room’s lights flickered out. 

“What is going on??” Lili fidgeted with the light switch, which seemed stuck in the down position. 

The little pixel man on the computer screen began travelling from one monitor to another quickly, his appearance flashing from one to the next. Each time he appeared, a loud sound that resembled wind played, and as the man gained speed, the noise grew louder, until the room was overtaken by the whirling sound of wind and flashes of white. 

“Lili! How do we stop it?!” Zoë yelled over the noise. 

“What?!” 

“How do we stop it?!” 

“I don’t know!!” Lili yelled in response. 

Just as the noise seemed to climax, climbing to the loudest point it could possible, a somewhat quiet voice reached through the utter chaos. Neither girl could identify its source or describe what it sounded like, all they knew was what it said. 

“𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯.”

And in the blink of an eye, everything was normal again. The lights were on, the door was open, and everything was calm, with no pixelated man in sight. 

“What the actual-” 

“Oh snap, oh my goodness-” 

Their voices overlapped as they both experienced the same emotions- they both felt excruciating fear in the moment, and now that it was gone all they felt was confusion. 

Without another word, the two dashed out of the now normal room and down the hall. Lili paused her running for just a moment to peek into Morali’s room. The boys in there looked calm, as if they hadn’t heard a thing. 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩. . .?

Lili continued running, following Zoë, and the two swung left at the end of the hall, intending to find Audrey and Gabby and tell them what had happened, when Zoë and Lili ran into the very girls they were looking for, who had apparently just been rounding the corner to find them. 

“Jesus, what’s going on?” Audrey asked. “We could hear your footsteps from down the hallway, why were you sprinting?” 

“Could you hear the noise??” Lili said. 

“What, your footsteps?” Gabby asked. 

“No, the- the thing!” Zoë said. “The wind thingie. . .” 

Audrey and Gabby looked at the two, concerned. 

“No. . .?” Audrey trailed off. “What are you talking about?” 

“The sound! In the computer lab!” Zoë insisted. “How could you have not heard?? It was so loud!” 

“. . . are you guys okay?” Gabby asked. 

“I- yeah! Just. . . “ Lili didn’t know how to finish her statement. She looked at Zoë, who shook her head, resigned. 

“It’s nothing,” Lili sighed. “We just got. . . caught up in the moment. That’s all.” 

“Are you sure?” Audrey inquired. “That was a little too extreme of a reaction for you to have just been. . . ‘caught up in the moment.’” 

“Yeah, it was nothing,” Zoë defended. 

Audrey and Gabby looked at each other, clearly confused. 

“Uh. . . ok. We’ll just be down in one of our talent rooms, come down whenever,” Gabby said. The two walked off, leaving Zoë and Lili alone in the hall. 

Once the two were out of earshot, Lili turned to Zoë. 

“You aren’t off the hook, y’know,” Lili accused. “Anyone could be the mastermind now, everyone’s got secrets. It isn’t a coincidence that they’ve survived this long, the probability isn’t in their favor. And I’m not trusting anyone.” 

Lili turned and walked away, leaving Zoë by herself in the hallway. 

~~~~ 

A few days passed, with nothing of interest happening. The remaining ultimates milled around, anxious, expecting the worse only for it not to come quite yet. The suspense was gradually building up around them as they waited like sitting ducks, knowing they couldn’t do anything to stop whatever came next. 

~~~~ 

August 15th, 2020, 2:58 

“What do you think it was?” Audrey inquired. 

“Believe me, if I had a guess, I would’ve already said it,” Lili responded. 

After the incident in the computer lab a couple days ago, Lili and Zoë had decided to confide what happened in the other girls. Even if one of them was the mastermind, the other one wasn’t, which meant they were still sharing valuable information with an innocent. They led them to the lab and the four of them all huddled together around a computer. 

“Lili, so you’re saying that Mario-” 

“It wasn’t Mario, Gabby, it was just a pixel person-” 

“Mario turned the lights out, made a bunch of noise, and said something?” 

“I- yes,” Lili sighed. “But that kind of undermines how serious it seems. It’s got to be something important. . .” 

“What was it the voice said?” Audrey asked. 

“’None of us will let you down,’ whatever that means” Zoë answered. 

“That’s strange. . .” Gabby commented. “Any guess as to what it could mean?” 

“I wish I knew,” Zoë responded. 

“I mean, it has to have something to do with all of this game stuff. . . why else would you have heard it in the first place?” Audrey asked. 

“I don’t know. . .” Lili said. 

Gabby sat down at the computer next to the one they had been huddled around. She fidgeted with it until it turned on, and just as she went to type something, there was a knock on the computer lab’s door. 

“Who-” 

“Shhh!” Lili shushed, cutting Audrey off. The computer they were looking at was against the same wall as the door, meaning whoever was there couldn’t look through the window on the door to see them. 

“Hello?” The voice from outside said. They tried to turn the locked doorknob. “We know you’re in here, we heard you talking. We just want to talk too.” 

“It’s Dylan,” Gabby observed, lowering her volume. 

Audrey peered at the door. “Is that all?” she asked. 

“I- yeah, what else would we want?” Another voice said. 

“Parker,” Audrey stated to the other girls. 

“They can come in, it’s fine,” Gabby said. 

“Are you sure? This seems a little sus,” Lili inquired. 

“Yeah, they’ll be fine,” Audrey said. 

“Should they really get to know what we saw though?” Zoë added. “Either one of them could be the mastermind as well!” 

“Just like one of us could be,” Audrey stated. “The mastermind will already know what happened here because they set it up in the first place, so if one of them were the mastermind, we wouldn’t be telling them anything they didn’t know already.” 

“That seemed oddly specific. . .” Gabby commented. “Why do you know so much about what the mastermind does?” 

“Because I pay attention, Gabby! Are you accusing me?” 

“Maybe I am! What’s it to you, we all know it could be any one of us! Plus, you basically predicted Audrey King’s death a few days ago!” 

“I- what? No I didn’t!” Audrey defended. 

“Yes, you did! I remembered because I thought it sounded weird! You said something like “one of you could die soon,” talking about Audrey and Lili, and then one of them did!” Gabby argued. 

“Jesus, it was just a coincidence! You really don’t think that I’m-” 

“Hello?” Dylan called outside the door again, cutting Audrey off. “Can we come in or not?” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Audrey said, briefly glaring at Gabby before standing up to unlock the door and letting them in. The two boys walked into the room. 

“I just wanted to show Parker what was on the computers,” Dylan began. “I came in here earlier in the game to see what was up.” 

“So you saw the ‘none of us will let you down’ thing?” Zoë asked. 

“The what?” 

“What did you see in here then, if not that?” Lili inquired. 

“The files? What are you talking about?” 

Gabby sighed and typed her name into the computer, pulling up the screen with the commands. She entered “/game’ and was greeted this time not by the pixelated man, but a blob of pixels across the screen. 

“What happened?” Lili asked. “Where’d he go?” 

“I don’t know,” Gabby said. ”You try it.” 

Lili sat down at the computer next to her and typed in her own name, entering the command as well, only to be met with the same screen. 

“Maybe it can only be done once?” Audrey guessed. 

“What is ‘it?’” Parker inquired. “You guys sound so cryptic.” 

With a sigh, Lili and Zoë explained what happened to the two boys, who seemed intrigued by the developments. 

“Y’know, I came in here at the start of the game, and I typed the stuff and the man came up, but I didn’t move the mouse around, I just used one of the other commands. I wonder If it would have happened then?” Dylan wondered. 

“There’s no way to tell now,” Gabby answered. “I’m curious as to what else we could have missed. . .” 

“Did you guys try the other commands?” Dylan asked. 

“No, we haven’t gotten to them yet,” Lili said in response. “What were they again? We’ll try one.” 

“Uh. . . /file was one, so was the one to quit, and there was one more. . .” 

“/Help?” Parker asked. 

“Yeah, that’s it. Try /file first, /help didn’t do anything useful” Dylan instructed. 

Gabby and Lili both typed it into their computers to be met with the same type of screen Dylan had found- a photo of themselves looking back at them and a bunch of personal information. 

“What on earth?” Gabby asked. 

“There’s a little footnote at the bottom,” Lili observed. “Befriends Ultimate Pen Collector. . . she had a name, you know,” she muttered. “And under that. . . 7//MC- SURVIVES[?] What is that supposed to mean?” 

“Does any of that mean anything to you?” Zoë asked. “What does MC stand for?” 

“Minecraft?” Gabby asked. 

“Why would it stand for Minecraft?” 

“I don’t know, it was the first thing I thought of.” 

“It says survives, but with a question mark,” Lili started. “God, that makes me nervous, I don’t think I want to know what that means.” 

“Well, yours says more than mine,” Gabby said. “Drifter, and under that, 6//.” 

“The mastermind is really giving us a lot of clues here,” Parker said with a hint of sarcasm. 

“Mine said the same thing Lili’s did,” Dylan said. “At the bottom. It said who I was supposed to be friends with, and the thing with the slashes.” 

Each member of the group sat down at a computer and looked at their own file and proceeded to discuss the rest of their findings there. They each wondered what it all could mean. And they each wondered if they could trust the very person they were talking to. 

~~~~ 

August 16th, 2020, 7:03 AM 

Contrary to how he felt, Cameron woke up early that morning. After ages of procrastinating it, he was going to go swimming in his talent room. 

He pulled himself out of bed, threw on a pair of swimming trousers he found in the dresser, and walked down to Morali’s room, scribbling a note that notified his friends of his whereabouts. He then proceeded to his talent room and didn’t hesitate to get in. He pencil-dived down into the cool water and smiled as soon as he was submerged completely, letting himself float steadily in place, his limbs splaying out lazily, until he needed air and resurfaced.. 

Cameron let himself float on his back, remaining still in the cool water. He laid there for ages, relaxing, feeling safe for the first time during the game's entirety. The world was quiet, and he was the only one in it, his own place of safety, and it felt as if he couldn't be touched. He refused to let himself consider the previous events of the game. He was alone, doing what he enjoyed, and nothing in that moment was going to take it away from him. 

His makeshift peace was interrupted by what sounded like a door opening. He pulled his head up, treading water to stay in place, and looked around. The room appeared to be empty still. 

Cameron swam over to the edge, propping himself up on the side, and observed the room in further detail. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he slipped back into the water. He held onto the side and turned away from it, facing the depths again, and was preparing to resume his casual swimming when he felt a pair of freezing cold hands grasp his shoulders, shoving him under the water. 

The sudden attempt took him by surprise, and he began struggling against it immediately, but whoever was pushing him under kept a firm grip. He reached up and attempted to pull the hands off of him, but he was running out of air. He was quickly becoming lightheaded, and his strength was fading. He hadn't taken a breath before going under the water. 

He felt fingernails dig into his shoulders as he failed to pull the hands off of him. At last, he gave up, letting himself go limp. He had no more air, no more strength, and no more time. 

Whoever it was relinquished their grip, and he slipped further into the depths. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. There was so much, all around him, and it all seemed to be crashing against him at once. A flood of memories he hadn't been able to recall before began to surface in his mind. 

𝘈 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 

𝘓𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘈 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦. . . 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 

𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦. 

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭.

His time ended, and the water filled his lungs, suffocating him. 

There was everything, all in front of him. 

And yet, as his eyes closed, there was nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't explain to y'all how much i love this chapter, by far my favourite out of the entire thing. i was so excited for it that i literally wrote the last portion of it (cameron's bit) on january 14th because i was looking forward to it so much


	13. 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕝

August 17th, 2020, 11:55 AM 

𝘈 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥!

Dylan quickly sat up in bed, woken up by the ever-haunting voice that gave him chills. 

𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵- 𝘸𝘩𝘰- 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳-

He threw the covers off and ran out into the hallway, disregarding shoes, still in socks, his heart pounding, eyes wide. 

“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯! 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 ‘𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳” 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮! 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬~!”

Dylan knocked on the door to Parker’s bedroom, with no response. He pounded on it once again, to hear nothing. 

“Parker, where are you-” 

The decreasing pace of the game had been, ironically, making him increasingly nervous. The uneventful last couple days and then the odd occurrence in the computer lab were affecting him in a way that he hadn’t expected them to. The traumatic effects left behind from the past murders and trials were more intense, psychologically-speaking, than he would have expected, and as a result, he had been made anxious. He didn’t want to have to lose someone else, much less the only friend he felt like he had left. 

Since Parker didn’t answer, he ran around the corner of the seventh-grade hallway, immediately calmed down as he found Parker standing in the hallway, looking nervous. 

“Jesus dude, I was worried for a minute, you didn’t answer the door in your room,” Dylan stated. “I thought. . . I thought it could’ve been you.” 

“No, it wasn’t me,” Parker answered. “I figured you’d be out in a minute, so I was just waiting here for you.” 

The two began walking together, intentionally taking their time. Others made their way past them, but they continue onwards slowly. Neither wanted to confront whatever came next. Deep down, no one did, but the inevitability of everything only made some want to hurry it along. 

The two continued, walking into the room in the midst of everyone discussing. 

“What’s going on? Who is-?” Parker began. Before he finished, the small crowd parted and he and Dylan could see what was going on. 

Cameron’s body floated eerily in the shallow water. 

“Jesus Christ-” Dylan started, though he didn’t know where it was going. 

“Yeah. . .” Zoë answered simply. 

“Help- help me pull him out,” Wade muttered. Dylan stepped forward and the two of them, knee-deep in the pool water, lifted the boy and sat him down on the tiled floor. They both kneeled down next to him. 

“This shouldn’t have happened,” Audrey stated. 

“None of this should have happened,” David answered solemnly. 

Dylan studied Cameron. It was so cruel. . . his eyes were closed. He looked peaceful. Almost as if he were sleeping. 

“Well. . . what do we suppose happened then?” Gabby inquired. 

“He drowned,” Dylan stated simply. “It’s the only explanation. Look at him.” 

“I don’t really want to,” Gabby replied, having been facing away the whole time. 

“There’s marks on his shoulders,” Wade observed. Zoë kneeled down as well. 

“They look like fingernail marks,” she mentioned. “They’re set up right. Four across each side. . .” 

“So we’re looking for someone with long fingernails?” Lili asked. 

“That isn’t specific enough. . .” Dylan stated. “Multiple people here have long fingernails,” he said, looking around. “We need something else. Something more concrete.” 

“The person who killed him would’ve gotten wet, right?” Lili asked. “There’s no way they could’ve stayed dry, not while having to force him under-” 

“Don’t- just- sorry,” David sighed. “Go on.” 

“I’m saying that the murderer probably disposed of some clothes somewhere,” Lili said. “It could give away a little more about the person. All of the clothes we have here are t-shirts with school clubs on them.” 

“Speaking of the murderer. . .” Audrey started. “Everyone’s accounted for. They’re in this room.” 

People glared around for a minute before continuing the conversation. Audrey’s statement couldn’t help but instill a little more fear than they had already. 

“Back to what Lili said. . . we don’t know when this murder took place. It could’ve been yesterday. It’s likely the clothes have already dried,” Gabby said. 

“It was today,” David stated. “I found a note in Morali’s room left this morning saying he was coming to swim.” 

“Wait, so you found him?” Parker asked. David nodded in response. 

“Even if the clothes were dry, finding discarded clothing at all would still be a tell.” Dylan pointed out. 

“True. . . We need to find them then. Search the building. It’s clearly not in here,” Gabby answered, gesturing to the empty room. 

“Then we need to look,” Lili said. “We don’t have much time left, we’ve got to split up. This is the only lead we have, the only thing that could give it away. Go to main rooms. Cafeteria, gym, the talent rooms of people who are still alive. Target trash cans, small places. The clothing is our best bet. Someone stay with Ca- the body, study this room and study him, see if you can find anything out that we missed.” 

“We don’t want the murderer to take the room they hid the stuff in. Then it won’t be found,” David observed. 

“Good point,” Lili answered. “Go in pairs. We’ve got to get this done, everyone go!” 

People rushed out of the room, sparing no time. Dylan volunteered to stay behind everyone else in the room with Cameron. Once everyone was gone, he peeled off his socks and sat down on the side of the pool, sticking his feet in the water. He glanced around the room, but other than the pool itself and a stack of black towels in the corner, it was completely barren. 

He sat there for a minute, just wondering. He wondered why they had to be here- who would be messed up enough to stick a bunch of kids in a killing game? Who came up with the idea? 

𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 

Everything made him uneasy now. He’d like to think he was at least acquaintances with most of the people here, maybe friends with some too, yet one of them murdered Cameron, and another was responsible for so much more, not to mention the traitor. There was always talk of who the mastermind was, but never the traitor. They could be dead already, and no one would know until the end. The end, of course, assuming Dylan made it there in the first place. He wanted to live just as much as anyone else. He wanted to avenge the people they lost more than nearly anyone else. The only person who had seemed angrier over this was Lili. Bria’s death had crushed her, and there was always the most intense look of determination in her eyes while she was investigating. Determination to find the person who put them all here. Dylan hoped he shared that same determined look, because he could feel its source burning on the inside. 

“𝘖𝘩𝘰𝘩𝘰𝘩𝘰𝘩𝘰~! 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴! 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘳! 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. . .”

Dylan pulled his feet out of the water and his head out of the clouds, stood, and walked over to the corner of the room, grabbing one of the towels off the top of the folded stack. He dried his feet and pulled his socks on, ready to walk out of the room until he noticed something odd. 

The towel at the bottom of the stack was folded differently than the rest, and the edges were facing towards him instead of the fold. He curiously pulled it out from the rest of the stack, and out fell a wrinkled T-shirt. 

He picked the shirt up from the floor, his heart beating quickly. 

𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦. 

𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 

𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵.

“Mathcounts” was scrawled across the top of the shirt, with “2019-2020” written under it. 

“𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦! 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴!” Pat-Ton's voice reminded over the intercom. 

“God, I’m coming-” Dylan said absentmindedly, turning to leave the room with the shirt in hand. As he stood in the doorway, he glanced back at Cameron one more time. 

“I’m sorry, man,” Dylan muttered. “You didn’t deserve this. No one does.” He turned and left after taking a moment of silence for the boy, running down the hall towards the trial room, sliding in his socks as he rounded the corner. 

He burst into the trial room just as the door was closing, holding the shirt up in triumph. 

“I found it!” he exclaimed, proceeding to walk over to his podium. A mutual sigh of relief spread over the room. 

“Well then!” Pat-Ton exclaimed, sitting in his usual spot in the throne-like chair against the wall. “It seems we’re ready to get started!” 

~~~~ 

Pat-Ton: “Instead of your usual hour, I’m cutting it down to thirty minutes as we near the ending of the game. I want difficult conclusions! Arguing! Conflict! The general mess that makes you all scared. The mastermind is getting tired of everyone’s milling around, they want more commotion! They want everything to reach its final ending. I, of course, share this desire, so I will do my part to enact it and make things harder. Expect rule breaking and expect for things to begin to escalate. Your time begins now.” 

Gabby: “Wow, that was ominous.” 

David: “Pfft, tell me about it.” 

[𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴.]

Audrey: “Alright, well, obvious thing first- the shirt?” 

Dylan: “It was hidden under the towels in the corner of the pool room.” 

Lili: “Why didn’t we think to check there?” 

Gabby, sarcastically: “Because we’re stupid, apparently.” 

[𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.]

Dylan: “It’s a shirt for Mathcounts. Was that a club here?” 

Wade: “Yeah. I’m in it. So are David and Gabby.” 

Parker, slightly accusingly: “How do you remember that?” 

Wade: “You just kind of know. . . it’s the same way you knew you were in band or whatever. It’s just kind of instinct.” 

[𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.]

Audrey: “I hate to say it, but uhh. . . that makes you three our suspects.” 

Zoë: “So you’re going to have to give real good alibis, because we don’t have much else. Where were each of you this morning?” 

David: “I found the body. He left a note in Morali’s room and I went to go see how he was doing.” 

Parker: “That means you didn’t do it then. So we’re already down to two.” 

Audrey, observing: “We’re making pretty good time for a trial we thought had no evidence.” 

Dylan: “Well, here’s where it gets hard. We hardly have anything else now. What are your alibis?” 

Wade: “I was still asleep when they made the announcement.” 

Gabby: “So was I.” 

Lili, sarcastically: “Oh, well that makes it real easy.” 

Audrey: “Clearly one of you are lying. The only problem is that we don’t have a way of knowing who.” 

Wade: “Wait, do you think I would actually kill him? Cameron is- was one of my best friends! He was one of the two people I had left, I never would hurt him!” 

Dylan: “The body. . . show us your hands.” 

[𝘉𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘱.] 

Audrey: “Gabby has short nails. . .” 

David: “. . . and Wade’s are long.” 

Zoë: “That alone settles it then, right?” 

Parker: “I mean, it’s not like we have anything else to go off of.” 

Wade: “Wait, no-” 

Gabby: “Oh thank god, see, I’m innocent-” 

Wade: “So am I!” 

Gabby: “I keep my nails short because my ultimate is literally playing the cello, they can’t be long, what’s your excuse?” 

Wade: “I dunno, I just- I didn’t do it! I would never have hurt him!” 

[𝘡𝘰ë 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵.]

Dylan: “Let’s look at this objectively- why would the killer hide the shirt in the very room Cameron died in? If they hid it in their own room we wouldn’t remotely have enough evidence to catch them, which begs the question- you both are smart, so whichever one of you did it, how do you mess up like that?” 

Audrey: “Fear?” 

Parker: “The only reasonable explanation.” 

Dylan: “Exactly. So, who’s more likely, out of the two of them, to do something dumb out of fear?” 

Lili: “That’s a weird question. We don’t really have a way of knowing.” 

Dylan: “Well, we don’t have a way of knowing who killed Cameron unless we really nitpit the details.” 

Wade: “It wasn’t me!” 

Gabby: “Yes it was, because it wasn’t me!” 

Audrey: “What if someone framed them?” 

Zoë: “Guys-” 

David: “How would they get the shirt, Audrey, all of our bedrooms stay locked.” 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘞𝘢𝘥𝘦.]

Wade: “It. Isn’t. Me!” 

Lili: “All the evidence points straight to you! The shirt, the fingernail markings on the body-” 

David: “And that’s all the evidence we have! It’s not enough to kill someone over!” 

Dylan: “It’s not enough to get all of us killed over either! We need to come to our conclusion, time’s running out.” 

Zoë: “Well-” 

Audrey: “All in favor for Wade raise your hands-” 

Zoë: “Guys, WAIT! We’re so stupid, just look at the shirt size! The shirt is a small, and no offense Wade, but it wouldn’t fit him. That leaves Gabby as the only suspect with much more concrete evidence!” 

[𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘺’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴.] 

Audrey: “No. . .” 

Dylan: “Well, it seems like we’ve caught you in a lie, haven’t we?” 

Gabby: “I-” 

David: “Save it. We don’t want to hear it. . . murderer.” 

Zoë: “Well. . . I think we do. Gabby, what do you have to say?” 

Gabby: “I didn’t want to do it! They-” 

Dylan: “Well, there’s our confession. Save your reasoning, whatever you say won’t justify your actions.” 

[𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴- 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵.]

Dylan, looking around the room in confirmation and then over at Pat-Ton: “We’re ready to vote.” 

Pat-Ton: “Excellent!! You may all enter your votes on the screens on your podiums, just like usual.” 

[𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵- 1 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘞𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 7 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘺.]

~~~~ 

Pat-Ton leaned back in the throne, its robotic voice strangely happy for something that wasn’t alive. “Well, the votes are in, and it seems you’ve all voted correctly! The Ultimate Cellist, Gabby Caraway, was the murderer! Let’s see what sort of cruel end Gabby will meet, shall we?” 

The black cable shot out from the wall and wrapped around Gabby’s foot. She cried out desperately as it swept her off her feet, clawing at the floor as she was dragged across it and pulled through the door, trying to grab at anything she could. The cable and its strange sense of sentience won, with the door slamming closed. 

The TV on the wall flickered away from the vote’s display and revealed the same black room that so many others had lost their lives in. There was nothing there- it was devoid of anything, other than Gabby, who stood at the center of the room, looking around frantically with a terrified expression on her face. 

She locked eyes with whatever was filming her and started angrily shouting at the top of her lungs. 

“I didn’t want to do it, we’re being threatened! They let us remember, they show us the people we love in reality and then they threaten to kill them unless we do what they want!” 

Pat-Ton stood up from the throne, seeming alarmed. 

“No one here is a killer, we’re just afraid! We want to protect the people we love, no one wants this to happen!” 

Pat-Ton fiddled with a remote it pulled from its pocket and pressed a button, clearly panicking, until. . . 

𝘉𝘈𝘕𝘎! 

Gabby looked down in shock, her hands held to her chest. She pulled it away to reveal the crimson blood that stained her hand and shirt. 

She looked up at the ultimates one last time. 

“𝘗𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦,” she pleaded softly before falling to the ground. 

The trial room was dead silent for a minute. 

“Well, it seems we won’t get to see our usual custom execution!” Pat-Ton exclaimed, excited and peppy as ever. “We can’t have them going around and talking too much, that simply ruins the fun. No spoilers allowed here! The trial is now over, and you’re all free to leave for now, but remember: the end is nearing. Have a good day!” With that, the mech turned and walked through the same cursed door that the condemned always vanished through. 

Lili looked around her. Everyone looked absolutely mortified at the game’s newest developments. The screamed pleas and explanation followed by the final wish seemed to strike a nerve with everyone, though any death had the same results. They all had the same goal in mind in the end, right? The methods utilized to enact the mastermind’s plans were horrible, they were learning, though it came as no surprise. They were all one team, being turned against each other over and over again by the same master of manipulation. Fear is the most powerful weapon of them all. 

People gradually filtered out of the room, followed by Lili walking out. What did this mean? The end was nearing. . . something big was going to happen. The grand finale they had all been anticipating, waiting for ever since the beginning, was coming. 

And Lili was ready to carry out Gabby’s final wishes.


	14. 𝕤𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕥 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞𝕤

𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 23𝘳𝘥, 2020, 4:00 𝘗𝘔 

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦. . . 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢. . . 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥." 

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭. . . 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯, 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘗𝘭𝘶𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 6𝘵𝘩, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭." 

"𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵. . ." 

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵. . . 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥."

~~~~ 

August 18th, 2020, 7:47 AM 

Dylan's eyes opened as he regained consciousness after an uncomfortable, short night of sleep. He glanced around the room and then at the clock on the wall, reading off the time and groaning. He knew it would take him a while to fall back to sleep- it was never easy, these days. 

He rolled out of bed and decided to head to his talent room. He didn't really have much else in mind to do; he didn't feel like there was a point to it anymore. As he walked, he pondered his dreams. The few he had were certainly odd. They had meaning, somewhere in them, but he didn't know what to think of it. Had that been him taking to the other voice? It was too blurry of a memory to tell- it had been a short dream compared to the ones of the past. 

𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. . .

Dylan pulled open the talent room door once he was there, squinting at the usual bright light of "day" that it brought. 

"God, calm down a bit," he muttered, referring to the lighting but talking to absolutely no one. Once his eyes were adjusted, he turned left and walked the length of the field to the left wall that encompassed it. He ran his fingers along it as he reached it, proceeding to begin just walking around the edge of the drill hill. The walls that so accurately seemed to mimic the sky from afar did seem fake up close. 

As he walked, Dylan began to see that the "sky" was dimming, and becoming flushed with a more orange tint. He looked on in wonder and realized that the room was mimicking a sunset- just without the sun. 

He sat down in the grass, leaning against the wall near the door, and watched in awe as the colors concentrated around one center point on the opposite wall. It was moving faster than the average sunset would, and it was gorgeous to watch. Gradually, the sky became the deep indigo of night, with the only light coming from the constellations that covered the ceiling and walls, with their twinkling stars and daunting shapes. 

The first thing he would do when they escaped, Dylan decided, would be to look up at the sky. The real one. He didn't care if it was day or night. He would stare straight into the sun after escaping if it meant he could prove it was real. One day. . . 

As he sat there, he gradually began to doze off. It wasn't the most comfortable of positions, sure, but he was there, under the "stars," and it was more peace than he had ever found in the dark bedroom inside the building. 

~~~~ 

August 18th, 2020, 11:56 AM 

"Dude, wake up. Jesus Christ, Dylan, get up." 

Dylan bolted awake to see Parker stood directly in front of him, with Wade and David standing a few feet back. He rubbed his eyes and sat up from against the wall. 

"God, I thought you were dead at first. Why were you just on the ground?" Parker asked. 

"I just. . . dozed off. The sky looked nice," he mentioned, now realizing it was back to its usual daytime. 

"What do you mean?" Parker inquired. "It's bright out here. Or. . . in here. I don't know at this point." 

"It changed," Dylan answered as he got up from the ground, stretching. "The walls are weird, they like. . . whatever, it's not important. What are you guys doing here?" he questioned. 

"We were just looking for you," David said. "We were thinking about looking around a bit, maybe checking out some talent rooms or classrooms down the eighth grade hallway. The others wanted to do it too." 

"Do you wanna come?" Wade asked. 

"Uh, yeah, sure," Dylan answered. The four filtered out of the talent room and back into the hallway. 

"I wanted to look at Jude's," Wade mentioned as they walked. "What would the Ultimate Communist even have as a talent room?" 

"Beats me," Parker answered. Just as they approached the door to Jude's room, which was two doors down from Dylan's, Lili, Audrey and Zoë walked up from behind them. 

"What are you guys doing?" Lili asked. 

"Just looking around," Dylan answered. "We wanted to look at Jude's room, since the concept of an 'Ultimate Communist' is a little strange." 

"We were about to do the same," Zoë said. "Not his room specifically, just check out all of them. Is it okay if we look around in you guys' rooms?" 

"Yeah, I'm sure that's fine," Parker said, looking around at the others who nodded in confirmation. "It's not like we have anything to hide." 

"Do any of 𝘺𝘰𝘶 have anything to hide?" Wade inquired. The girls each shook their heads in response. 

"Well, someone here is lying, clearly," Dylan observed. 

"Get used to it," Lili answered. "I'm sure the rest of us are." With that, the group of girls walked to the end of the hallway and entered the first talent room together, leaving the guys alone in front of the Ultimate Communist's. 

"Well. Let's see what's in here," Dylan said, turning to face the door and pushing it open. "You would think they locked these," he muttered as the room was revealed. 

The lighting was cold, with a bluish tint to it as it bathed the room. The walls all seemed to be covered in a sort of velvet texture, with the one directly across from them almost completely covered in deep blue curtains. Against the wall to the left was a table with some sort of deck of cards spread out across it, and to the right, on the wall, there was a cork board with various notes pinned to it. To the left of the table was what looked like a bar setup, with wine glasses lined up across the the glass shelves, with a space behind them for a server. 

"What do you think they have behind the bar there, apple juice?" Parker asked with a laugh. 

Each of the boys went off the investigate a different part of the room. Dylan stepped forwards, approaching the back wall, and pulled the blue curtains apart, revealing a wall that was nothing but bookshelves, lined with tons of different shapes and sizes of what seemed to be nothing but political literature. His eyes skimmed over it, looking for anything odd, and he felt almost fortunate to see he was headed in the right direction. 

One of the books on the bottom left corner was uneven with the rest of the books on the shelf, being pulled out a little bit more than the rest. Dylan grasped it and pulled it out of the shelf. It was titled "The Conquest of Bread," and it seemed to have a gap between two of the pages, like something was stuck between them. 

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦.

Dylan opened the book to the page with the gap and a piece of paper fell out, fluttering to the ground. He crouched down and picked it up, reading over its contents. 

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 24 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱. 

𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 

-𝘔

"Guys," Dylan started. "I found something, guys-" 

He looked up from the note and faced the others, all of them walking to the center of the room. He read it out loud to them, each looking just as puzzled as he felt. 

"M?" David asked. "Who is M?" 

"Mastermind?" Wade asked. 

"Well yeah, who else would it be?" Dylan questioned. 

"Morgan?" Parker pitched. 

"She's gone, Parker, it couldn't be. Mastermind is the only thing that makes sense," Dylan replied. 

"What do you think it means then?" David inquired. 

"It means that Gabby was telling the truth. Everyone who's killed here has had their loved ones threatened," Wade answered. 

Dylan looked down at the note. "The mastermind is still in the game. Whoever they are, their handwriting is on this note. Should we get writing samples from everyone, see who matches?" 

"That's a good idea," David said. "Let's look around a bit more though, see if there's anything else important in here." 

"Alright. Did any of you find anything important-looking?" Dylan asked. 

"Yeah actually," Wade answered. "The corkboard. . ." he started, walking over to it. The rest followed after him. "It looks like Jude wanted to figure out who the mastermind was." 

"I mean, don't we all?" Parker added. 

"It doesn't look like he ever managed to get anywhere though. Every time he got a lead. . ." Wade picked up a wastebin from the floor, full of crumpled paper. ". . . someone involved with said lead would die." 

Dylan skimmed the various notes on the board, looking to make sense of the scribbles. 

"There's nothing useful," Wade said. "Trust me, I looked at each of them." 

"Well then," Dylan spoke before walking over to the other side of the room. "What about the bar? It's strange there'd be a bar in the room of someone who can't legally drink." he stepped behind the front of the bar that was adorned with wine glasses, kneeling down to inspect the bottles hidden on the interior shelves. There were a few things of wine, all untouched, and an assortment of different unalcoholic drinks as well. 

"There's nothing interesting back there," Parker stated as Dylan stood back up. 

"I can tell," Dylan answered. "It looks like the most interesting thing you could make with what's already been opened is a Shirley temple." 

"Sprite cranberry," Wade said with a laugh. 

"Crite Spranberry," Dylan replied absentmindedly as he studied the cards laid out on the table by the bar. 

"What do these mean?" he asked, holding up one of the three that had been pulled out of the spread. 

"I dunno really," David answered. "They have numbers on them, but I don't know what they're supposed to do." 

"I suppose you can't play solitaire with them," Dylan said, putting the card back where he found it. "So I guess our only real lead is the note." He held it up in the lighting again, studying it. 

"We need to go check everyone's handwriting," Wade observed. 

"Yes, we do. This looks too neat to be a guys' writing-" 

"-which leaves it to be one of the girls," Parker said, finishing Dylan's statement. 

"Alright then," Dylan started. 

"Let's go check it out." 

~~~~ 

August 18th, 2020, 12:01 PM 

Lili walked down towards the front of the sixth-grade hallway, accompanied by Audrey and Zoë. They had just been talking to the boys exploring Jude's talent room, and were planning to take a look at the rest of them. 

"So who's first?" Zoë asked. 

"Mine is, actually," Audrey answered. "It'll be down here on the right." 

The group reached the front of the hallway and looked at the door. The plaque next to it read 𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘌𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦- 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵.

"Alright then, let's take a look inside," Lili said. Audrey pushed the door open to reveal the room. 

The walls weren't the usual cement brick of the school. They appeared to be wooden, as they were smooth, and painted over with a pale cream color. There was a lamp on an ornate, wooden table against the back wall, with a binder sitting on top, and a small shelf above it, which was filled with various books on theory and woodwinds. The lamp filled the room with a warm sort of lighting, creating a comforting atmosphere as it filtered through the paper lampshade that hung down over the lightbulb. In the chair that sat against the table was a plastic case, adorned in various stickers. 

"What's this?" Zoë asked, walking over to the case and picking it up. 

"It was, uh, Gabby's clarinet," Audrey explained. "I thought I'd take it from the band hall, give it a nicer home." 

Zoë sat the case back in the chair and turned to face the rest of the room. Hung on the wall to the left of the door were a few framed pictures that all depicted various kids holding instruments and laughing. Under these was another table, with various types of clarinets set up on display, and a couple wooden drawers attached to the table's underside. On the other side of the room, there was a chair and music stand sat together, with a bean bag nestled in the corner. 

"There's nothing of interest in here," Audrey stated. "I'd know, but you can still look around if you wanna." 

Lili stepped forwards and studied the table with the binder on it. 

"Nice lamp," she said as she flipped the binder open. Inside was assorted sheet music, organized by year. 

"What are these?" she asked. Audrey walked up behind her. 

"It's music." 

"Well duh, I wanted specifics." 

"I think it's music we've played before. Last time I was alone in here, I tried some of them and just sort of. . . knew them, y'know?" 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘝𝘪𝘷𝘢. . . 𝘈 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥.

Lili flipped all the way through the binder, confirmed there was nothing interesting in it, and closed it. She glanced up at the books lining the shelf above the table. 

"Have you even looked at these?" Lili questioned. 

"Nope," Audrey answered. "I know I probably should, but they look boring." 

Lili left the books alone and walked over to the wall with the photos. 

"Do you recognize any of these people?" She asked. 

"Not any of the ones that weren't here with us, in the game," Audrey said. "But they look so familiar. . . I know them. I know I do. We were friends at one point. . ." 

"And you'll see them again," Zoë said. "I know you will. We'll all get out of here." 

"We better," Audrey answered. "Because man, I'm going to be angry if we don't." 

Lili pulled open the two drawers under the table and studied the contents. Reeds and other replacement clarinet parts, as well as some miscellaneous writing utensils and paper. She stepped back and looked over the room one more time. 

"C'mon, there's nothing in here, let's go check out the other rooms." The other two girls agreed and they stepped out of Audrey's room, approaching the door across from hers. 

"I don't want to go in there," Zoë realized as she read the name on the plaque. 

𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘒𝘯𝘶𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯- 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳.

"Yeah- let's uh- let's not. We've looked around enough in there before anyways," Audrey said. 

"The next one then," Lili said, turning and walking to the door next to Cameron's. "David Dupont- Ultimate Writer. Let's check it out." 

Lili opened the door and the lights in the room flickered on. There was a desk in the middle of the room with an overflowing wastebin full of crumpled paper next to it. A stack of disorderly papers sat on the desk, with a pencil on top. Against the back wall was a little futon, with soft looking white fabric and a few pillows, and an empty corkboard hanging above it, with nothing but a few thumbtacks jabbed into it. 

Audrey stepped forwards and examined the drawers in the desk, pulling them each open. There seemed to be no more than blank papers and an assortment of writing utensils, larger than the variety in Audrey's room. 

"There's nothing in here," she said. "Other than this stack of used papers." 

"Not to mention all the stuff in the trash can," Zoë observed. 

Audrey quickly flipped through the papers, holding them back with her thumb and letting them all fall back into the stack. "Nothing looks strange," she observed. "I don't think we should take the time to read these, there's no use, it's just writing." 

"I think we should," Lili said. "We should at least skim over them." 

"I mean. . . you can if you want to. It all looked like normal writing," Audrey replied. "I think we'll go ahead and check the next room, you can stay behind if you want to though." 

"I'll just be a few minutes, I'm gonna look over them quickly," Lili replied. 

"We'll be across the hall, just come on when you're done," Zoë said. The two girls turned and left, leaving Lili alone in the room. 

𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. . . 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. . .

She flipped through the papers absentmindedly, skimming over their contents. The stack was about an inch thick, but she felt she would get through it quickly. After a little while, she still hadn't found anything interesting, until she felt herself skip a page by mistake. The paper was thinner than the rest, but as she went to flip back to it- 

"Lili! Come look, we found something!" Audrey's voice called out. Lili turned around to see Zoë and Audrey standing in the doorway of the room across the hall, a piece of paper in Audrey's hand. 

"Uh, what is it?" Lili asked, sitting the stack down and walking over to the two girls. 

"I found this note inside a binder in this room, read it," Audrey stated. 

"Whose room-?" 

"Gabby's," Zoë answered. 

Lili peered into the room from the doorway. It looked nearly identical to Audrey's, but the light from the lamp on the table was bright white, giving the room an entirely different feeling than Audrey's. It felt cold, isolated, and empty. Lili took the note from Audrey's hand. Scrawled across the lined notebook paper was a message, in neat, printed handwriting. 

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 24 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱. 

𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 

-𝘔

"Oh my god," Lili said. "That's it, right there, that's the mastermind, I- what do we do with this? How do we-" 

"Guys," a voice from behind her started. She turned around to see Dylan, Wade, Parker and David walking up to the rest of them. Dylan clutched a piece of paper in his hand. 

"We found something important," Dylan stated. 

"So did we," Zoë replied. 

Lili studied the paper in her hand and looked at the one in Dylan's. 

"I think we may have unlocked the same clue," she observed. She held up the paper to show the others, and Dylan did the same. 

"Whose room is that from?" Wade questioned. 

"Gabby's," Zoë answered. "Is yours from Jude's?" 

"Yeah. So the whole threatening thing. . . that's real?" David asked. 

"Apparently," Audrey answered. 

"We wanted to do a handwriting check. Have each of us write down what the note says in our own respective handwriting to see if there's a match," Dylan stated. 

"Uh, yeah, that sounds fine," Lili said. The sudden thought of the test made her feel uneasy. What if this found them the mastermind, and ended it all, right then and there? 

𝘕𝘰. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺. . . 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.

"My room has writing stuff," David volunteered. The group filtered into the room across the hallway, and David passed out paper and pencils to each. 

"Okay, just. . . write down what's on one of the notes," Dylan said. 

Lili sat the piece of paper down on the desk and leaned over it, looking at one of the mastermind's notes for reference, and realized she was frozen, pencil hovering over the page. 

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰. . . 𝘯𝘰, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘺.

She began writing, her hand feeling shaky, and finished out the note quickly. She stepped back and looked at her handwriting. It looked messier than she expected it to be. 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.

She took her note and the mastermind's over to the corkboard on the wall and pinned them each to it, the mastermind's in the middle and hers in the corner. As each person finished, they each came and placed their own up there as well, until all seven new notes, plus the two old ones, were all on the board. Lili stepped back and studied all of them. As she observed them, she realized the mastermind's handwriting, somehow, looked vaguely familiar. 

"There's no match," she observed, looking over each of them. 

"Dang it!" Zoë exclaimed. 

"We were close," Dylan began. "But there should be more of these. We need to look in the other rooms of people who would have gotten one." 

"So. . . Olivia. Talent room wise, at least. The rest are probably hidden in their bedrooms. . ." Audrey started. 

". . . which are all locked," Wade finished. 

"There's always more possibilities though. What if they didn't get notes, like, on paper?" Dylan asked. 

"You mean like. . . through a computer or something?" Lili asked. 

"I don't know. . . there are computer labs here, and clearly the mastermind can do things with dreams, so. . . it's just a thought." 

"We don't really have any way of knowing though," Wade mentioned. "I mean, we can't know what someone who's dead dreamed about-" 

"-unless they wrote it down," Zoë added. 

"But even then, this is pre-talent room we're talking about, so the note would probably be in their bedroom," Audrey observed. 

"Which brings us back to square one," Parker stated. 

"God, I'm tired of this," Dylan sighed melodramatically, flopping backwards onto the futon before sitting up and leaning against the back of it. 

"Dreams. . . has anyone here had one? Like, a weird one?" Zoë asked. 

". . . yeah, actually. Twice," Dylan replied. "One was the day after the very first trial, and the second. . . it was kinda recent. Uh. . . when I found Audrey King." 

"And I. . . sort of did," Lili said. "It was weird. . . Dylan, what were yours?" 

"I don't remember it the best. . . I guess I should've written it down or something, looking back. I didn't think it was too important at the time, just strange. I was in a dark room. . . well, I wasn't 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 there, y'know, just watching. There was this big table with five people sitting around it, like a council, and it was too dark to see any of them. . . just their silhouettes. And the mastermind was there. I didn't see them either, I don't really know anything about them. . . they proposed the game idea as a fix for overpopulation, and the other people approved of it. It was really cryptic." 

"And you didn't think this was important at the time?" Zoë asked. 

"I don't know, man," he answered. 

"What about the second one?" David asked. 

"It was the same group. The weird council people. Actually- no, it started with two women. They were arguing." 

"Do you remember names?" Lili asked. 

"Uhh. . . one was Karen. Lindsey. And the other one was Cook." 

"What were they arguing about?" 

"This. Us. Cook wanted us to leave, escape. . . she wanted the game to stop. Lindsey didn't know what was going on. . . and then Cook went to talk to the council people. She wanted them to stop. They're behind this. It was the mastermind's idea and whoever that group is helped them enact it-" 

"-by turning this place into our prison," Audrey finished. 

"Exactly," Dylan said. 

"Are you sure there's nothing else?" Lili asked. 

"I- yeah, there's nothing else," Dylan replied. "What about your dream?" 

"It was very static-y. I saw a face, briefly. A woman. She was warning me, and she said there was someone there with her. . . I don't remember the name though. Everything was cutting out, like. . . a phone with bad reception. I couldn't see anything other than her face that one time." 

"What did she look like?" Dylan asked. 

"Umm. . she had spiky hair-" 

"That's Cook," he realized. "Whoever she is, she and this other person that was there are trying to help us." 

"Maybe they'll succeed," Audrey considered. "And we won't have to do anything to get out. What was she warning you about, Lili?" 

"Uh. . . I had it the morning that Bria, um. . ." 

"Oh, alright then. Has anyone else had any weird dreams?" Dylan asked. Everyone shook their heads no. 

"Huh. . . alright. What are we supposed to now then?" He asked. 

"We need to finish looking around at the talent rooms, and see if we can find any way to open any locked doors here," Wade contributed. 

"Locked doors could be important. . ." Zoë began. "I know there's two on each hallway, plus there's one on each side of my talent room." 

"Where else?" David asked. 

"There's one down by the band hall," Audrey stated. 

"The choir room?" Zoë asked. "I've gone in there with Carter before, there's nothing interesting. It wasn't locked when we went." 

"Ah, okay." 

"I know the trial room door is always locked when we aren't. . . doing a trial," Parker added. "I think that's all of them?" 

"That sounds right," Lili added. 

"Why don't we finish looking at the talent rooms since we started doing it in the first place, and you guys can go take a look at the locked doors," Zoë suggested. 

"Sounds good," Dylan answered. "Let's hope we find something. . ." 

The two groups made their way out of the talent room. As the guys turned left to go off and inspect the doors down other hallways, the girls turned right to look at their next talent room. Just as Lili was about to follow Audrey and Zoë into the next room, she felt a tap on the shoulder, and turned to still see Dylan standing there. 

"Listen, uh, I know this is random, but I wanted to tell you that you're the only person here I really trust." 

"Yeah, that is random, why-" 

"The computer lab," he explained. "When we were looking at the commands, you and I had the same little slash thing at the bottom of our files. There's something special about the two of us, something that makes us different from everyone else. . . I don't know if anyone else has it, but. . ." 

"MC," Lili realized. "No one else who looked had it." 

". . . which leads me to think we're supposed to play a bigger role in this. Look, the reason I'm coming to you is because I had another dream this morning, but. . . I thought it might make me look suspicious." 

"You not 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 anyone makes you look suspicious," Lili replied. "What happened in it?" 

"I think. . . I think we all agreed to be here. I was talking to someone, they thanked me for agreeing to do this. . ." 

"Why would anyone agree to this?" 

"I don't know. . . it's just what I dreamt. I don't think I knew what would happen." 

Lili crossed her arms. ". . . why do you trust me? The lab thing isn't a lot to go off of." 

"Because. . . when the thing with Bria happened. . . well, the way you reacted. . . that sort of pain can't be faked." 

"You've felt it before?" 

"Maybe I have," he answered. "It's a conversation for another time, really. We need to get to work. Listen, meet me in the computer lab at the end of the eighth-grade hallway at 8 tonight. I want to look at everyone else's files- it could give away important information." 

"Okay. That sounds good then." 

With that, he turned and left, walking towards the front of the hall to return to the rest of his group. 

"Lili, are you coming?" Audrey asked from in the room. 

"Yeah. . . yeah, I'm coming," Lili answered. She turned and looked at the plaque on the wall next to the doorway. 

𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨- 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳. 

𝘖𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘥.

She entered the room, feeling uncomfortable as she did so. Zoë seemed to take notice of this. 

"I know, I know. . . I don't want to be in here either," she stated. "But there's a lot of places in here. We have to." 

"It's not like we have time to look through every book," Lili observed, looking at the tall shelves that reached up towards the ceiling. "Let's just. . . let's just look through the ones that have been pulled out, and the space on top of the shelves." 

Zoë nodded and sat down at one of the tables, picking up the opened books and flipping through them for anything that may seem out of the ordinary. Audrey came out from behind one of the shelves and sat down next to her, seemingly leaving Lili to climb to the top of the bookshelves. 

She walked down one of the rows of shelves and located a ladder, and proceeded to shakily climb it, holding on tight to the wooden sides. She reached the top of the shelf and pulled herself up, now standing in the little area between the top and the ceiling. There was a comfortable loft up here, with a couch and table. A blanket was thrown over the back of the couch, and an empty coffee mug sat on the table. Other than that, it was barren. 

"There's nothing up here," Lili called down. 

"There's nothing down here either," Audrey called back up. "Let's get out of here." 

Lili, more than happy to agree, descended back down the ladder onto the normal ground again. The three filtered out of the room, pulling the door closed behind them, and approached the door across from it. 

"Wade Estess- Ultimate Football Player," Zoë read 

"Well, I think this one might be short," Audrey said as she opened the door. Sure enough, it was no more than an indoor football field. 

"How do they. . . how do they fit this into a school?" Lili asked, stepping forwards into the room. 

"Isn't it kind of useless anyways?" Zoë asked. "I mean, there isn't a whole football team, so what's the point?" 

"I feel like. . . this isn't as big as it looks," Audrey realized. She walked forwards into the room. Lili followed behind her and realized what Audrey was talking about. The farther they walked into the room, the smaller they realized it was. By the time they stood in the middle of the field, the room looked to be half the length of a football field at most. 

"It's so weird. . ." Zoë said, walking up behind them. 

"There's nothing here," Lili observed after a moment. "C'mon, we'll move on to the next one." 

And so they did, walking back out of the room and returning to the hallway. 

"Both of these are locked," Audrey pointed out, fidgeting with the handle on a door. "They both look smaller than the rest of the classrooms, if you look at the size of the wall. . . and they're on every hallway." 

"And there's no sign of a key anywhere," Zoë said. "The guys are trying to figure these out right now, let's stay on task. The next room. . ." 

". . . is mine," Lili stated as they came upon the door. She opened it and the dim lights of the movie theatre flickered on. 

"Oh wow, this is nice," Zoë stated. 

"There's nothing in here that I don't know about. We can still look around though," Lili said. 

The few rows of recliners proved to hide nothing though, as they each combed them, searching for any sort of hidden clue. 

"What about the TV?" Audrey asked. "I mean, that's technology, you've got to be able to do something with it." 

"I can't. Believe me, I've tried. There's all sorts of these restrictions on it. I can't do anything than the few things it lets me. I can barely go on YouTube without it sending me back to the homescreen." 

"Aw, that sucks," Zoë said. "Admin restrictions. . ." she shook her head in annoyance. 

"Let's go on to the next one," Lili said. "There's nothing of interest here." 

They returned to the hallway only for Lili to be met with the very last plaque she wanted to read. It was directly across the hall from her own, but she had been ignoring it. She didn't want to face it, or read it or anything else. She just wanted away from the reminder. 

𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬- 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳.

"Can you guys. . . can just you guys do this one? I think I'll check the next room over." 

Audrey took notice of the plaque on the wall and turned to Lili. "Yeah, it's fine, just. . . uh, keep looking at the next ones." She said. Lili watched as Audrey and Zoë entered the room, and then proceeded to the next one over, with the door to the right of her own room. 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. . .

She faced the opposite wall again, looking to the door next to Bria's. The plaque was blank. 

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥. . .

She tried to push the door open only for it to be locked. She peered right to see Zoë’s room was right next to this one. 

𝘖𝘩. . . 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘡𝘰ë 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳. 

Lili walked past Zoë’s door and to the one on the other side, which was the very last door on the hallway, other than the one against the backway. She fidgeted with the handle only for it to be locked too. She had known Zoë’s room was suspicious for a while, but she hadn't wanted to go in there again since the first day the rooms were introduced. 

With a deep breath, Lili pushed the door to Zoë’s room open and entered. 

Right away, something felt wrong about it. There's no way it couldn't feel wrong- not when the room was identical to a place where people had died. 

𝘖𝘳 𝘪𝘵 is 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥. . .

Lili studied the room. Other than the stage and its two podiums, it was blank. No cameras mounted to the ceiling, no cracks in the walls that could lead to the trial room. It would look like a normal room if it weren't for the legacy tied to it. 

Lili climbed up onto the stage and inspected the backs of the two podiums. Nothing out of the ordinary there either. 

She sighed discontentedly. Nothing here gave her any sort of lead, other than, of course, the prospect of Zoë being the mastermind, which she didn't believe was true. Lili had seen Zoë’s frustration and disappointment with her talent room. She trusted both Zoë and Audrey, for the most part, and didn't think either of them were the mastermind. Or at least, she didn't want to think either of them were. . . 

The guys, however. That was a whole new can of worms. Lili wasn't sure if she trusted Dylan or not. What he said about the computer lab did make sense, but she wasn't sure if that was enough to go off of. And the other three. . . well, she hardly knew them. They were her top suspects. As for the traitor, she had no idea. Absolutely none. Everyone had looked suspicious at some point or another, and unlike the mastermind, the traitor could be dead, which did not narrow her options down in the slightest. 

Lili stepped down from the stage and exited the room, more than ready to leave. She pulled the door closed behind her and looked across the hallway. 

𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘰𝘯- 𝘜𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵.

She glanced back around and looked at the cracked door to Bria's room. There was muffled conversation coming from inside. 

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦.

She entered Parker's room to find that it looked eerily similar to Gabby and Audrey E's rooms, down to nearly every detail. 

𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴. . .

Just as they did in the other instrument rooms, Lili walked over and inspected the binder on the back table before anything else. A lot of the music shared titles with the ones she had seen in Audrey's room, whereas Gabby's all seemed completely foreign to these. 

𝘞𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥. . .

She closed the binder after finding nothing interesting in it and inspected the few other hiding places in the room- there were a few books on the shelf above the desk, and the drawers under the table up against the wall to her left, closer to the interest. After the room proved to have nothing of interest to her, she returned to the hallway, where she found Zoë and Audrey standing there. 

"Anything interesting?" Lili asked. 

"No," Audrey replied. "We had to go through all of those drawers, with the different types and colors of pens, and-" 

"I know," Lili interupted. "Spare- uh, spare me the details." 

"Did you find anything?" Zoë asked. 

"Nope," Lili answered. "I looked in yours and Parkers. Nothing." 

"Which leaves Olivia's and Dylan's," Zoë finished. 

"And I suspect we'll find something in Olivia's," Audrey stated. "Come on, let's check it out." 

The three approached the last door on the right side of the hallway and pushed it open, revealing a very nice-looking room. The walls were a nice pale purple color, all lined with cabinets and drawers made out of stained wood. Against the back wall was a rustic, old-fashioned oven with bricks surrounding it, reaching up to the ceiling, and a fireplace underneath a couple racks. The counters were littered with various appliances, and in between counter tops were larger kitchen tools- a stove, an oven, a fridge. A microwave sat on the counter in the farthest back corner. 

"Well then. . . this one might take a minute," Lili observed. 

"So many cabinets. . . let's get started," Zoë stated. 

And so the three got to work, rummaging through the cabinets and drawers for anything important. As they searched, they seemed to be finding nothing that wouldn't belong in a kitchen- the cabinets were stocked in all sorts of ingredients and box cakes. The drawers were filled with whisks and spoons and other small tools. 

"Anything?" Lili asked, moving from a cabinet to open the oven and peer inside. 

"Nope," Audrey replied, arms deep in bags of powdered sugar she had pulled from a cabinet. Zoë shook her head in response. 

Lili sighed- she was getting really tired really quickly. She wanted to be done rummaging through drawers, searching for clues. Hopefully she would get the clues she needed tonight, in the lab. 

She closed the cabinet absentmindedly and turned to the old-fashioned oven on the back wall. She stuck her head into the opening in the brick and peered around. Nothing looked out of place. She pulled her head out and reached in with her hand, moving the rack over to reveal the coals in the bottom of the oven. Sitting on top of the unlit coals was a book. 

"Guys? I think I found something," she said, grasping the boot and pulling it out. 

She blew the soot off the cover and opened it to the front page. 

"It's a cookbook," Zoë observed as she walked over. 

"Yeah," Lili answered. She opened it to a bookmarked page, only for a piece of paper to slip out and fall to the ground. 

Lili met Zoë and Audrey's eyes with a grin. 

"Bingo." 

She stooped down to the ground and retrieved the piece of paper, picking it up and holding it up to where the three of them could read it. 

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 24 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱. 

𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 

-𝘔

"It's the same handwriting," Audrey observed. 

"And it's more proof," Zoë said. 

Lili sat down on the floor, leaning against the bricks of the oven, and let out a sigh. After a moment, Zoë and Audrey sat down as well. 

"I'm so. . . tired," Lili said. "I just want out of here. To find this mastermind and leave." 

"Tell me about it," Zoë replied. 

"We have proof now," Lili observed. "Proof that no one here is a murderer. Proof that Olivia. . ." 

"Proof that Morgan-" 

"-Gabby and Carter-" 

"and Jude and Ethan," Lili finished. "None of them wanted any of this. And we're going to avenge them all." 

"Honestly. . . I wouldn't be surprised if Ethan wasn't threatened," Audrey joked. "He had always seemed a little weird." 

"It's best not to speculate," Lili replied. "For now, as far as we know, they were all innocent. People do things when they're scared, to protect the people they love- things they would've never been able to do normally." 

They sat in silence for a moment before Zoë spoke. 

"Do you think any of them resisted?" she asked. "They tried not to do what the mastermind told them?" 

"If they did, they probably paid the price," Lili answered, shuddering just thinking about it. 

"And like us. . . they were probably tired of being here," Audrey said. "I'm tired of this building, these walls. I want to leave. I wanna go back to the home I can't even remember. This place feels so familiar, and I hate it now. There used to be some form of comfort. Something nice happened here once, good memories, yet I can't stand being here anymore." 

"And we will leave," Zoë said. "We're going to get out of here. I know it. We're so close." 

"They call you the Ultimate Motivator for a reason," Audrey said with a smile. 

"Hopefully we'll have some answers soon. We still need to look in Dylan's room," Lili said, climbing to her feet. "This shouldn't take long, then we can take a real break." 

The three all stood and walked out of the room, flipping the lights off behind them and pulling the door to a close. 

"Ultimate Marcher. Like. . . marching band?" Lili asked. 

"Yeah," Audrey replied. 

"I swear, if we have another football field," Lili muttered as she pushed the door open. 

She was partly right. The opened door did, in fact, reveal a grassy field, but the rest wasn't quite what she expected. 

"What's up with the walls?" Zoë asked. 

The walls were covered in black rectangular panels, all of which were screwed in tight in each corner with the visible silver dots of screws. 

"God, what is this supposed to be?" Audrey asked outloud, stepping forwards in the grass and fidgeting with one of the panels, which, to no avail, didn't budge. 

Lili walked to the back wall and studied the panels, trying to figure out what they might be used for. She walked along the back wall, tracing her finger along each of them, until one of them tilted slightly. 

"Hey," she called out. "This one moved." This panel only had one screw instead of four. 

She pressed her fingers against it and moved it, making it swirl around until it was on top of the panel next to it rather than concealing the wall. Inside of the panel was what appeared to be strangely complex wiring. 

Audrey and Zoë walked up behind Lili. 

"Good lord, what is that?" Audrey asked. 

"I don't know. . ." Lili answered. With that, she stuck her hand directly into the wires. 

"Lili!" Zoë exclaimed. 

"There's a button back there," Lili said, moving the wires around with her hand. "But I can't- ow!" She pulled her hand back out. 

"What happened?" Zoë asked. 

"There's some kind of weird barrier in front of that button. . . it shocked me," Lili explained, peering back into the hole in the wall. 

". . . what do you think it does?" Audrey asked. 

"If I knew," Lili began. "Then I probably would've come here sooner." 

"So you can't get in there?" Zoë asked. 

"No. . . it's blocked off," Lili said, resigned. "God, that's disappointing. I thought we had something." She moved the panel back around to where it covered the wires again, and pushed it inwards. To her surprise, the room proceeded to light up. The panels transformed from black panels to sky blue painted bricks, and light filtered in from overhead. 

"I- what just happened?" Audrey asked, shielding her eyes before they adjusted to the new brightness. 

"This. . . this setting makes more sense now," Lili observed. "Look around- now it looks like we're outside." 

"Maybe there was some type of glitch?" Zoë asked. 

"A glitch in the room?" Lili asked. "I'd say that's crazy, but with all the wires. . . it isn't unlikely." She turned back around to the panel, preparing to open it again, when she realized that it wasn't there anymore. She felt around the wall and could find no groove that indicated its located. There were no means of opening it again. 

"That's so strange," Zoë stated, stepping back and observing the wall. 

"Yeah. . . strange," Lili responded. 

~~~~ 

August 18th, 2020, 7:58 PM 

Lili walked down the eighth-grade hallway. After a long day of exploring around, searching for clues, she was about to unravel what might be the biggest clue of all. 

She reached the end of the hallway and approached the door to the computer lab. Taped to it was a note. 

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥. 

𝘞𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 

-𝘋𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯

Lili reached out and tried to open the door, only for what the note said to be correct. The lab, somehow, had been locked. She sighed in annoyance and turned to leave when something caught her eye. 

𝘛𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦.

She had forgotten about this classroom. The one she had come to in the first few days of the game. She walked ahead, and with a gentle push, the door came open, the lights flickering on automatically as she entered. 

The room had five tables in it- one directly in the center and two angled outwards on each side, each with multiple chairs pushed in under them. At the front of the room was a desk, strangely empty. It felt as if it should be cluttered, but instead it had been stripped down. Below the desk was a trash can, painted with messy red and white stripes. 

Lili sat down in the chair behind the front desk and looked around the room. It felt so strangely familiar. . . as if she was supposed to be in there. She knew this room. She had done things in this room, great things. . . and there had been great times in it. 

As she looked around, the door in the back of the room caught her eye. She stood and approached it tentatively, and tried to open it, to no avail. "Locked. . ." she muttered, frustrated. She turned to return to her seat behind the desk when she noticed the cabinet next to her. She glanced up at it and read what was written on it. 

𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘖𝘭𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘥.

Lili pulled up a chair and stood on it to become eye-level with the cabinet. It felt like so long ago that she had wiped 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘰𝘯 off the board. She had forgotten it was even there. 

With a heavy heart, she reached up with her sleeve. 

𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘬𝘢 𝘓. 

𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺. 

𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘥. 

𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘛𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦. 

𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨.

They weren't in Science Olympiad anymore.


	15. 𝕨𝕚𝕤𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to copy/paste the links into another browser 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺. It won't make sense to wait until you're done reading to view them.

August 19th, 2020, 10:49 AM 

“Dude, wait up.” 

Dylan turned to see Parker jogging up from behind him. It was still rather early, and not many other people were awake. His own lack of sleep last night had, strangely enough, only made him wake up earlier. Upon getting up, he had lightly knocked on Parker’s door to see if he was awake. Whether or not Parker had been up before Dylan knocked, he didn’t know, but he certainly was afterwards. 

“It’s early,” Parker acknowledged, now walking at a normal pace as he met Dylan. They were on the sixth-grade hallway, hoping for a nice morning “outside” in Dylan’s talent room. 

Just as he went to turn back around and resume his pace towards his room at the end of the hallway, movement out of the corner of his eye grabbed his attention. He noticed Lili had opened the door of her talent room and peered out into the hallway, looking around. 

“Sorry,” she muttered. “Thought I heard something. . .” She gently pulled the door closed behind her, and muffled conversation could be heard on the inside. 

“Come on,” Dylan motioned to Parker. The two walked towards the end of the hallway, pushing open the familiar door that led into Dylan’s talent room. 

The lighting of the room was soft to match the morning theme, with a lush orange tint still visible around where the sun would be. The sky was a pale pink, which seemed a little odd- though 11:00 was early, it wasn’t 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 early. 

That wasn’t what Dylan questioned, however. What he questioned was the square of black on the back wall that stood out from the rest of the illusion. 

“Parker,” he said, nudging Parker with his elbow and gesturing in the direction of the square. Parker had been looking up at the sky in wonder before- if it weren’t for the fact that the room was fake, it certainly would be beautiful. 

“Do you see that?” Dylan asked. 

“I- yeah. What is that?” Parker inquired. The pair walked over closer to it, approaching the back wall with just a little bit of hesitation. 

Dylan reached out and touched the black square. At first, it did nothing, but the more he fidgeted with it, the more it seemed to want to move. He gave it a solid push inwards, and it then came loose. It was a tile about the size of one of the normal bricks that made up the walls on the inside of the school, and a singular screw held it in place in the corner. It could be pivoted around that one screw, turning about against the wall. Dylan simply moved it to the side, now at a 90-degree angle from the hole it had covered before. 

“Jesus,” Dylan said, peering in through the hole to see everything inside. “What do you think this is supposed to be?” He moved aside to let Parker see. 

“I have no clue,” he stated after a moment of observation. “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s how the walls are powered. They’re electronic or something.” 

The inside was full of messy wires that were in an assortment of different colors. On the very back of the little box of wires, which was about elbows-length deep, there was a small, black button. 

“And what do you suppose that will do?” Dylan asked. Without hesitation, he began reaching through the box, trying his best to avoid touching one of the wires as he tried to press the button. 

“There’s only one way to find out,” Parker replied, watching as Dylan dug around in the wall. 

“Almost there. . .” he said, stretching his fingers back until he felt the cool plastic of the button on his fingertips. 

“Got it,” he said, and he pressed it. 

Immediately, the lights in the room flickered off, leaving the both of them in pitch black darkness. Dylan pulled his arm out of the wall and tried to look around, but there was absolutely no light. 

“Well look what you’ve done now,” Parker said from somewhere in the dark. “We can’t see.” 

“Like it’s my fault?” Dylan said, using his arms and trying to find Parker to no avail. 

“What do we do?” Parker asked. “There’s no light-” 

His words were cut short, however, as a dim light began to fill the room. Dylan looked around for its source before realizing where it was coming from: there were small spots on the walls and ceiling now, realistic stars that shone bright in the “sky.” They casted just enough light for Dylan to see Parker’s silhouette a few feet away from him. 

“Dude,” Parker started. “What did you do?” 

“I have no clue,” Dylan said, looking around. The longer he stared up at the sky, the more obvious the “stars” became to him, being able to see easily now in the darkness. As he looked at them, he suddenly realized that they were moving ever so slightly, all drifting across the walls and the ceiling towards the back wall of the room, directly across from the wall with the door. The spots began growing larger, but the small amount of light they gave off remained the same as they began concentrating around each other, forming a shape on the back wall. A messy silhouette appeared. There was no clue to their identity, no detail that gave away who they were. Just a shape. 

The room seemed to shake as the sound of static filled it. 

~~~~ 

August 19th, 2020, 10:44 AM 

Lili’s pace seemed to quicken the more she walked. When she woke up, the door to her bedroom had been cracked open, and she wasn’t going to stick around there to find out why. 

She continued making her way down the hallway, turning right when she reached the hall of talent rooms. She approached her own door near the end of the hallway, which she realized was also cracked open. With a deep breath, she pushed it, prepared for the worst, only to see Zoë and Audrey sat inside. 

“Oh my god,” Lili breathed a sigh of relief, walking into the room and pushing the door closed behind her. “You guys scared me, I didn’t know why the door was open.” 

“We didn’t mean to,” Zoë replied with a reassuring smile. “It was an accident.” 

“I assume you’re the reason my bedroom door was open too?” Lili asked. She was put off by Zoë and Audrey’s confused expressions. 

“No. . .?” Audrey said. “I never messed with it. Zoë, did you. . .?” 

“Nope. I didn’t,” Zoë responded. “Aren’t they always locked when someone's inside? We couldn’t have.” 

“Oh. . .” Lili replied. “That’s. . . odd then. Uh, anyways, what are you guys doing up?” 

“I don’t know, really” Audrey said. “Can’t really sleep much.” 

“Same,” Zoë added with an exasperated look. “We assumed you’d be here sooner or later, so we were just thinking about watching a movie for now. I couldn’t find the remote though.” 

“Ah,” Lili started. “It’s under the-” 

Her words were cut off by the sound of a somewhat loud bang. She turned quickly and looked around, not seeing anything in the room. 

“What was that?” Audrey questioned, her voice quiet. 

“There’s only one way to find out,” Lili answered. She gently pulled the door open to see Dylan and Parker standing in the hallway, turning to walk towards Dylan’s room at the end of the hallway. Dylan looked over at her, a questioning look on his face. 

“Sorry,” she said. “Thought I heard something. . .” she glanced around quickly again, and something caught her eye. The door to the room next to hers was cracked open as well. She pulled the door to her own room closed and looked at Zoë and Audrey. 

“Well?” Audrey asked. 

“It was just Dylan and Parker out there,” she said. “But they seemed normal. But. . . I think there’s something else.” 

She waited a second and pulled the door back open, watching just as Dylan and Parker entered Dylan’s room, leaving the hallway empty. She then stepped out, gesturing for Zoë and Audrey to follow, and looked at the room next to her own. 

“It’s Jude’s,” she observed, her voice a whisper. 

“Let’s check it out,” Zoë answered. 

Lili cautiously pushed the door open. She had peeked into the room the day before, but not really looked around since the guys had already done so. It looked the same as before- velvet walls, cold lighting. She glanced around and found was looked out of place- there was a larger blue book on the ground. 

“It looks like it was knocked over or something,” Audrey observed, walking over and picking it up. 

“But it was in the middle of the floor,” Zoë pointed out. “What would it have been knocked off of?” 

Lili approached Audrey as she opened the book to examine it. 

“It’s not a book at all,” Lili observed. “Well it is, but. . .” 

“What is it?” Zoë asked, walking over. 

Lili reached into the book and pulled a key out of the hole cut into the pages. “It’s a secret hiding spot,” she said, holding the key up to the light. 

“Oh my,” Zoë stated. “There are so many locked doors here- what do you think that does?” 

“There’s only one way to find out. . .” Lili said with a smile. 

“How do you think it even got there in the first place?” Audrey asked. “Why Jude’s room? If he knew about it, why did he never tell any of us? He wanted to get out just as much as we did.” 

“I’m not sure. . . but we need to go test this on locked doors. Like, ASAP. This could get us an answer we need,” Lili insisted. She stuck the key into the pocket of the jacket she wore, embroidered with “Germantown Dance” and her name on it. 

“Come on then,” Zoë said, walking over to the door and gesturing to it. The girls filtered back out into the hallway, and just as they were about to continue down it to find the locked doors, Lili froze. She heard the loud sound of static. 

“Guys. . .?” she said uncertainly. 

“I hear it too,” Audrey said. 

Zoë turned and listened intently for a moment before pushing the door to Lili’s room back open. 

“It’s coming from in here,” she observed. The three returned to the movie theatre and looked around, uncertainly, when out of nowhere, the door slammed shut and the sound of static stopped. Lili jumped. 

“Oh my god!” Audrey exclaimed out of fear. 

Zoë ran over to the door and tried the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. She banged on the door, to no avail. 

“How did that happen?” Zoë asked, looking around rather frantically. “There was no one there!” 

“I don’t- wait,” Lili realized, looking around. “The noise stopped.” 

“Oh god,” Audrey said. “I don’t like this at all.” 

And, of course, the lights went out, leaving them in pitch black. 

“Jesus!” Lili exclaimed. She felt around in the darkness and found Audrey, reaching out and grabbing her arm. 

“What is going on?!” Zoë called out from across the room. 

“I have no clue!!” Lili replied. She tried looking around in the dark, but she couldn’t see a thing until she realized the tv screen was starting to give off some sort of light. It was subtle, and very dim, but she could still see outlines. Zoë approached her carefully in the dark. 

“The screen,” Audrey realized. “What is it doing?” 

The outline of a person was becoming visible on the screen now, their back facing the girls, their identity hidden, anonymity kept. The sound of static filled the room again. 

. 

. 

. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXLzW2GbNpo&feature=youtu.be 

. 

. 

. 

And just like that, the room returned to normal. The TV screen went black, and the lights turned on. The girls looked around at each other, all in awe at what happened. 

“Jesus. . . that- that's it, that’s. . .” Lili stuttered. 

“This is what Pat-Ton was talking about last trial, it- it has to be. ‘The end’ and ‘the final clue’ and stuff. But in the video, that. . . that was us? We were all there, those of us that are still alive. What is this supposed to mean?” Audrey asked uncertainly. 

“I have no clue!” Zoë exclaimed. “I don’t remember doing that. . . “ 

“None of us remember anything!” Lili reasoned. “It doesn’t make sense though. The video makes it look as if we agreed to be here or something, or we- we talked about it with the mastermind.” 

“I’d never willingly talk to whoever put us here,” Audrey snapped. “If we find out who they are-” 

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 we find out who they are, not if, because we have to!” Lili interrupted. 

“Wait. . . in the video,” Zoë started. “It looked like none of us were the mastermind. I mean, think about it! We were all agreeing with the whole. . . y’know, ‘none of us will let you down’ thing. We were all talking to someone.” 

“That doesn’t mean anything though!” Audrey reasoned. “The mastermind is still alive, we know that much. If they were dead, the game would be over, so something isn’t right in the video! They’re still blending in with the rest of us, whoever they are.” 

“Speaking of the rest of us. . . we need to tell the others,” Lili realized. “They’ve got to know.” 

“How would they believe us?” Audrey asked. “None of them saw it, and I don’t think we can exactly play it again.” 

Lili walked over to her recliner and reached under it, pulling out the remote. She attempted to turn the TV on with the power button, to no avail as nothing happened. 

“It isn’t working,” Lili explained. “Come on, we just need to go tell the others. Quickly.” 

The three of them rushed into the hallway to see Parker and Dylan quickly exiting Dylan’s room, a look of urgency on their faces as well. 

“Guys!” Lili called out. “We’ve got news, something just happened-” 

“So do we, it’s important-” Dylan insisted. 

“I don’t think it’s quite as important-” 

“Believe me, it is-” 

“Guys!” Zoë exclaimed. “Stop interrupting each other and let someone talk!” 

“Fine,” Dylan exclaimed, holding his hands up, resigned. “What is it?” 

“We were just in Lili’s talent room, the theatre, and everything basically went haywire,” Audrey explained. “The lights went out and the door closed, and on the screen there was this weird video. We were all in it, and there was this whole thing about how ‘none of us will let you down,’ and-” 

“Wait,” Parker said. “We had the same thing. We just saw it too!” 

“What? How?” Lili asked. “There’s not a screen in Dylan’s room-” 

“The panel,” Zoë realized. 

“Exactly,” Dylan said. “The thing on the wall. There was a button in it, so I reached through it and pressed it, and it made the room go dark, like yours did, and the video appeared on the wall. The wall itself is a screen.” 

“The button. . . I tried pressing it when we looked around and it shocked me,” Lili realized. “They were waiting, waiting to show us the final clue-” 

“What do we do with this information?” Parker asked. “We can’t exactly-” 

His words were cut off by the long drawl of the intercom’s alert sound, followed by a familiar voice. 

“Well Parker, do I have a solution for you!” Pat-Ton's voice rang. “And no, there hasn’t been a new discovery, don’t get your hopes up! It seems that some of our ultimates here have discovered the final clue of our game. It’s been a fun ride, but everything good must come to an end. The final trial will be beginning soon, and all ultimates must make their way to the trial room at once. It’s time for discussion! The mastermind was getting awfully impatient with your progress, after all! You’ll find out who they are soon enough. Whether or not the rest of you will live to see the end of the day, however, is up to all of you! See you all at the trial!” The intercom clicked, turning off. As he spoke, Pat-Ton's voice seemed to become more glitched from how it was supposed to sound, as if something was breaking through. 

“Oh my god,” Audrey muttered. 

“This is it,” Lili said. “The final trial, we’re. . . we’re about to discover everything.” 

“Pat-Ton’s voice. . .” Dylan began. “It sounded. . . strange. Stranger than usual, I mean, uh. . . it sounded more human.” 

“You’re right,” Zoë realized. “It was almost familiar.” 

“I guess we’ll figure it out soon enough,” Lili said. “Come on, we need to go.” 

“Oh god. . . I don’t know if I’m ready for this,” Audrey said as the group began walking. 

“Well. . . I don’t think any of us ever were,” Dylan replied. 

~~~~ 

August 19th, 2020, 11: 05 AM 

“Okay. . . here we go,” Lili said, a firm grasp on the door handle to the trial room. She turned it with a deep breath and pushed the door open, the group walking inside. 

Instead of Pat-Ton being sat on the throne-like chair that leaned against the wall, there sat David, looking down at the ultimates from the elevated seat. 

“You. . .” Lili sneered. Each of them took their place at their own podiums. 

“Yes. . . me,” David replied nonchalantly. “Took you long enough to figure it out.” 

Wade wandered in behind the group, clearly confused at the new developments. “David?” he asked, standing behind his own podium. “What’s going on?” 

“I’ll tell you what’s going on,” David said with a grin. “To put it simply: I’m the mastermind.” 

“Yeah, we’ve gotten that much, thanks,” Dylan spat. 

“To put it a little less simply: I came up with the idea of this game. The school board had their own goals to fix overpopulation, and I proposed a method. You’re all gathered here today not to find the identity of the mastermind, but to find the identity of the traitor.” 

“But the traitor could already be dead!” Audrey exclaimed. 

“Maybe that makes it a bit harder for you then. As you all very well know, this mostly functions like a normal trial. You’ll discuss and then you’ll vote. If the majority gets it right, then congratulations, you all get to leave. If not, well. . . things get a little grim.” His voice sounded monotonous, as if he was reading from a script. 

“How would you- why would you do this?” Lili exclaimed. “How could you come up with something that would hurt us, hurt your friends??” 

“You all agreed to do it!” David shot back. “I thought your final little clue made it clear. Every person in this room agreed to play the game.” 

“Did we know everything that could happen? About the murdering?” Audrey asked. 

“Yes, you did,” David replied. “Though I will confess, we didn’t mention the whole ‘threatening your love ones to force you into doing it’ thing, frankly I think you all thought it was a joke.” 

“You’re a liar then,” Zoë snapped. “And how could anyone think this is a joke?” 

“I don’t know,” David sighed. “Ask your friends.” 

“Am I the only person who has no idea what’s going on right now?” Wade asked. 

“Yes!” nearly everyone answered in unison, exasperated. 

“So what were your plans in the first place?” Parker asked. “What was your goal?” 

“Oh, it’s not really up to me to explain the details of that,” David replied. 

“How did you take away our memories?! How did you manage to- to construct such a perfectly done, twisted plan in the first place?” 

“Well. . . it wasn’t perfect, actually. Some things never quite got to go according to plan. For example, Ethan actually wasn’t forced to do anything at all. We didn’t think anyone would just go and kill someone on their own accord, so we came up with a way to make them do it. The original plan was to have Trevor survive,” David explained, his eyes wandering carelessly across the group. Dylan locked eyes with him and sneered. 

“But it ended up working for future developments anyways. Trevor and Ethan were both supposed to live much longer, but Ethan turned out to be a little twat and just went off and killed someone. He was an outlier. In fact, the locked talent rooms on each side of Zoë’s were meant to be Ethan’s and Trevor’s. In the original plan, Gabby was meant to kill Trevor and it would be our very last trial other than this one, but it ended up all working out well anyways. You see, Jude was rather reluctant to hurt anyone, even with the threats of people he cared about, which funnily enough, included me, and so we utilized the incident with Ethan to show the negative effects of Jude’s resistance. We made Gabby end Cameron instead. Two friends of his, gone. His reluctance to hurt people, in turn, hurt people. . . ironic, isn’t it? It’s what happens when you don’t play the game, but it all worked out nicely in the end for us.” 

“So Cameron died for nothing?” Wade asked. “I thought we were friends, dude, I thought you cared about us! And then you went off and- and- God, I don’t even know at this point.” 

“Why do you keep saying ‘we?’” Dylan demanded. “Who’s ‘we,’ who’s this ‘us’ you keep talking about? Who else is behind this?” 

“You’ll find out sooner or later,” David answered, refusing eye contact with anyone. 

“How sick do you have to be?” Lili asked angrily. “To do something like this? It doesn’t make sense! People have died!” She stepped out from behind her podium and into the half-circle formed by them all, facing David. “Don’t you feel pity? Pity for- for Morgan, for Randi and Ashlyn, and Gabby and Cameron- and- and everyone else!” She shook her head, looking down. “Don’t you feel pity for Bria?” She locked eyes with David. 

“Now, why. . .” he started. “. . . why did you have to mention Bria?” 

As Lili was closer to him now, she realized David was shaking ever so slightly. His eyes seemed weary, and the expression on his face had become one of suppressed panic rather than a daunting smile. 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯. . .?

David stood, and spread his arms wide. 

"I'm sorry."

. 

. 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QIUXy_mVVc&feature=youtu.be 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo now that you're done, go back and read the pinned comment on each of the youtube videos, there's epic information in those :sunglasses:
> 
> also sorry if they're bad i thought it'd be cool to try mixed media 
> 
> oh notice that i posted this on august 6th, 2020, 6:00 pm, which is when the whole story starts in chapter one. i thought that'd be a neat coincidence
> 
> leave kudos pls it makes me look cool ok bye


	16. 𝕨𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟'𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕤

August 19th, 2020, 11:20 AM 

“It seems you’ve underestimated what’s going on,” a feminine voice stated, sounding bored, almost tease-like. 

The knob on the door that all the executed were dragged through turned with a metallic click and the door was slowly pushed open. Standing there in the doorway was none other than Bria herself. A collective gasp spread around the room. 

“. . . Bria?” Lili mumbled, not trusting her own eyes. 

𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥.

“Surprise,” Bria said, pushing the door closed behind her. All that could’ve been seen through the open door was pitch black darkness, and she emerged from it as if she could see fine. 

Lili found that all she could do was stare. Her eyes widened as she comprehended what she saw. Bria was dead. Lili had watched her. . . 

𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥.

She couldn’t speak as she stood there. Her eyes were only averted from Bria when she noticed someone behind her move quickly. Her eyes moved to see Wade rushing up to David, who had crumpled to the floor at the foot of the throne, with Parker following behind him. 

“It’s funny,” Bria observed, watching as the two boys moved. “I doubt any of you saw that coming,” 

“I-” Lili failed to continue her words. 

“He’s breathing,” Wade realized. “It only hit his shoulder, he should be fine.” 

“Where did it even come from?” Parker asked quietly. 

Lili’s eyes moved away from the two and she glanced behind her. The rest of the ultimates looked taken aback by the sudden developments, especially Zoë and Audrey. 

Seemingly being able to formulate words better than Lili, Audrey spoke. 

“What. . . on 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩.” She paused. “. . . is going on?” 

“Great question,” Bria answered, moving over to an empty podium at the end of the semi-circle they formed. “Which I’ll probably be able to answer for you. You see, a big aspect of what we wanted to do here was be 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, which clearly we’ve succeeded in.” 

“Who’s ‘we?’ Bria, what’s going on?” Zoë asked. 

“The show is!” She exclaimed. “Though it looks like the curtains may be closing on our stage soon.” 

Lili shook her head adamantly and began backing out of the middle of the semi-circle, back towards her own podium. Wade and Parker were still kneeling by David, who seemed to be conscious now and talking quietly to them. She took her place behind the wooden stand and firmly stood her ground, her fists clenched, staying quiet as the others talked. 

“You see, I’m going to have to be honest with you all- David clearly wasn’t- this game has it’s layers. Think of it like a cake-” 

“You’re clearly a terrible baker then,” Dylan muttered. 

Bria cleared her throat. “Like I was saying, layers. You bite into it, think you’ve got one thing, then look at that, surprise! There’s something else.” 

“How- how are you here?” Audrey asked. “How did you survive??” 

“Well. . .” Bria started, crossing her arms. “You never saw me die, did you?” 

“What are you doing then?” Lili spoke up. “You’re not the mastermind, Bria, I know that you’re not, and you aren’t the traitor either. You’re- You’re my friend, what’s going on?” 

“Well, you’re partly right and partly wrong. You see, David was right about one thing,” she stepped out from behind the podium and wandered to the middle of the half-circle. “The traitor could, in fact, be dead. And I was! I was, to your knowledge at least, dead. And now, surprise, I’m back. There’ll be more surprises in the future as well, but those are for later.” 

“You’re the traitor?” Lili spat. “But if you’re the traitor, and he’s the mastermind like he said, then what are we doing here? Why can’t we leave?” 

“Because he lied!” Bria explained. “David isn’t the mastermind. Whether or not you believe me there is up to you, but it’s the truth. He’s not anything special, actually- just a pawn used to make everything a bit more interesting. I’m going to be honest, he did a lot better job acting than I expected- he memorized the script fairly well. We have our ways, our science. I didn’t come up with most of this, a lot of it was all the mastermind. The real one, anyways, not David.” 

Lili looked over at the three boys at the foot of the throne again. David was sat up and leaning against it while Wade and Parker wrapped his shoulder and upper arm in what looked to be a belt. As Bria spoke, David’s expression changed from one of mild pain to be offended. He mumbled something about being special and groaned lightly as Wade pulled the belt tighter around the wound on his arm. 

“He’ll be fine,” Bria stated. “Physically, at least. The only thing he could die from would be bleeding out, which they appear to have under control. I’m not sure how any of you will be mentally affected by any of this, the whole concept of this is kind of horrifying.” 

“Yes it is, chief, which I why I want to know why on earth you came up with it,” Dylan said, crossing his arms as he stood behind his own podium. 

“I didn’t,” Bria insisted. “As I said before, I’m the traitor. This whole concept, everything that’s happened- that's the mastermind’s ideas! And they’re in this room. They simply came to me for help with their ‘big project for the school board’ and I obliged. After all, friends help friends.” She locked eyes with Lili. 

“Speaking of which, I thought we were friends!” Lili said, stepping out from behind her podium again, approaching Bria. “We hung out together, we confided in each other. We were there for each other when we kept seeing our friends die, and I knew- I knew that we knew each other before all this too. I may not remember it, but I know you do! We were friends, and your ‘death’ it- it messed me up, and I 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 you! And now you’re telling me you’re helping the sick person who put us here?” 

“Oh Lili,” Bria said with a smile, retreating back behind her podium. “You shouldn’t speak of yourself so negatively. 

Lili’s face went pale. 

“. . . what?” 

“Now, if you all remember correctly, the big decision that determines whether you all get to leave or not is, of course, ‘who is the mastermind?’ You all want to know, and because I’m so gracious, I’ll tell you,” Bria said, her voice laced with sarcasm. 

“Of course, whether or not you believe me is up to you. You have absolutely no idea whether or not I’m telling the truth, which is what will make your vote all the more fun. You’ll probably think it’s either me or David- understandably so- but I’ll throw in the third variable to make things a bit more complicated. Lili,” Bria turned and faced her. 

“Surprise, Lili.” 

Lili felt every pair of eyes in the room turn and look at her. 

“What??” She stuttered, eyes wide. “I’m not the mastermind, I couldn’t be, I would 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 being the mastermind-” 

“That’s just the thing,” Bria said. She leaned forwards and gripped the sides of her podium. “I knew that you would say that. You knew that you would say that.“ 

“Why would I ever come up with something that puts my friends in danger?” Lili questioned. “Why would I come up with something as insane as all of this? I would remember doing that, if I was the mastermind I wouldn’t let myself forget-” 

“Tell me then, Lili, what 𝘥𝘰 you remember?” 

Lili stood there in silence. There were memories. . . they were blurry. Two figures in front of a table of five. Her and Bria. She didn't even know what was real. Everything from before the game was blurry.

But she 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 that she couldn’t be the mastermind. 

“You wanted to be put in here,” Bria explained. “You wanted to play the game like everyone else after coming up with the concept. That’s why the traitor exists in the first place- they're not as sought-after as the mastermind, so they don’t have to forget anything. They carry out what the mastermind originally wanted behind the scenes because the mastermind can’t do it themselves.” 

“And you’re telling me I planned this? I planned to manipulate people, and- and to have them hurt each other? That’s so messed up! I would never- I would never do that!” 

Lili stood there behind her podium in mild shock. Bria’s accusations chilled her down to her bones; the concept of her being the mastermind along made her feel sick. She had never remotely considered it- what if the mastermind didn’t know what they were doing? Their lack of memory doesn’t excuse their actions, but it was still a scary thought. What if everyone's fear was real? There was no acting because no one, as far as they knew, was lying? 

“But you would. . .” Bria said. “Because you did. You, Lili, are the mastermind. You came up with the idea for all of this, you sought out validation from the school board by fulfilling what they needed. I just helped you because I’m your friend. But now. . .” she continued, stepping out from behind the podium again and standing in the middle of the room. 

“. . . it’s time to discuss. It all comes down to this, doesn’t it? Are you all going to believe me, or do you have your own theories? It’s time to discuss your options and who you’ll be voting for. The final trial commences now. You have thirty minutes, and remember. . . the best option is not necessarily the correct one.” 

. 

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https://forms.gle/3c6gx2KEJidmPoz66 

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.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please vote in the poll! your opinion, regardless of whether or not you're still alive or you were even in the story to begin with, matters. one vote per person, and please answer your legitimate name so i can know who said what!!
> 
> UPDATE: I AM NO LONGER TAKING NEW ANSWERS IN THE POLL. I'M LEAVING IT OPEN IF ANYONE IN THE FUTURE WANTS TO VOTE ANYWAYS (PLEASE DO, I'M STILL CURIOUS LOL), BUT THE CURRENT MAJORITY IS THE WINNING ONE.


	17. 𝕔𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕓 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕗𝕖𝕥𝕪

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok this one's a bit of a fever dream because i wrote most of it after 10 PM please don't bully me if something doesn't make sense
> 
> i hope you like it
> 
> also it's currently 1:36 AM. that's irrelevant i just wanted to throw that out there. school is tmr (or later today ig) and i really wanted this to be done by tmr so i have made sacrifices and now i am where i am. i have no regrets. good night everyone.

August 19th, 2020, 11:56 AM 

“Your votes have come in,” Bria said. She picked up a remote that had been sat flat on her podium, hidden from the sight of anyone other than herself. The TV on the wall flickered to life. “Let’s see what your fates are.” 

Lili stood there in awe, looking at the vote results. 

43% 𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘪. 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴.

“Wow,” Bria started, looking up at the screen. “I’m gonna be honest, I thought you guys were a little smarter than that. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you’re 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, but I pretty much told you what the best option was for you all.” 

No one moved a muscle. 

“Did you not just hear me? I said you’re right. The majority voted correctly, Lili is the mastermind. I’m not Pat-Ton, I’m not making a big deal out of it.” 

Silence. 

“So what um. . . what happens from here?” Lili asked. She looked around the room at the rest of the people behind their podiums. A few seemed to back away from her slightly. 

“Well, usually,” Bria began as she stepped out from behind her own podium, moving slowly to the center of the room. “The mastermind in this situation would die, right? That’s how it works.” 

“Hold on-” Lili said. “I-I don’t wanna die, that’s not- let's not get ahead of ourselves. Even if I was the mastermind-” 

“-you are-” 

“- I regret what I did now! I take it all back, I don’t want to put anyone through this. I never would’ve if I was thinking clearly, I don’t know why I did this in the first place! There’s no motive for me, these people are my friends-” 

“-yes, they are Lili, and if you let me keep talking, I’d tell you what’s going to happen,” Bria stated. Lili closed her mouth and crossed her arms. 

“This situation is a bit different. If I’m being entirely honest, I don’t want you to die, Lili. I don’t want anyone here to die.” 

“Yeah, right,” Wade muttered, now standing behind his own podium. He and Parker had both returned to their podiums when the discussion began, and the injured David was sitting in the throne still to rest. Wade had entered his vote for him. 

“So I’m going to do you a favor!” Bria exclaimed. “Let me talk, Jesus, guys. Lili,” she faced her friend again. “You get to leave. I’m not going to stop you.” 

“What?” Parker said. “She’s the mastermind, and we voted correctly, she can’t just get off that easily-” 

“Are you saying you’d rather have her die?” Bria asked. “That’s messed up, man.” 

“No, that’s not what I’m saying- I just mean that she’s gotta do something, she’s the reason we’re all here! She’s the reason people have gotten hurt!” 

“I’ll let you sort it all out later,” Bria said. “For now, it’s time for you all to go. You’ve won. It’s over, you all get to leave and live your lives. You’ll find out where the exit is soon enough. . . just be prepared to chase after the answer and you’ll find it. For now. . . well, bye.” With that, Bria turned and approached the door that the executed were dragged through. She opened it, once again revealing the strange darkness inside it, and pulled it closed behind her, leaving the room in awe. 

Silence uncomfortably settled over the room like a layer of dust as they all stood there before it was finally broken by David. 

“Okay, what the-” 

“Language,” Zoë stated. 

“David’s got a point though,” Dylan observed. “What just happened?” 

“We have no concrete proof of anything. . . how did it end, just like that? So easily? There’s got to be more to it than just what she said,” Audrey mentioned. 

“This feels weird-” Lili started. 

“You should hardly be talking right now,” Zoë sneered. Her voice softened a bit. “I’m sorry Lili, but from what we can guess right now, you’re the mastermind-” 

“Not ‘from what we can guess,’ they just confirmed it!” Parker insisted. “Everything’s supposed to be finished right now, we voted for the mastermind, we got it right, and now we’re supposed to be leaving! So why aren’t we?” 

“We don’t even know where the exit is. . .” David observed. 

The group paused their debating. 

“. . . what do you think ‘no desirable outcome’ meant?” Audrey asked. 

“Probably an outcome where no one else died,” Dylan reasoned. “That’s what I assume, at least.” 

“Well, didn’t we just get that anyways?” Zoë realized. 

“Yeah. . . but Bria said Lili wasn’t going to die. Maybe whoever put all of this together-” Wade began. 

“-Lili-” David interrupted. 

“-changed their mind and felt bad killing someone else?” 

“How could I ‘change my mind,’ I don’t remember anything!” Lili exclaimed. “Bria’s the one who was changing everything around.” 

“Yeah, but 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 the mastermind!” Parker said. 

“No I’m not! And if- if I am then I certainly don’t mean it! I regret my decisions, if I made them at all, and just want to leave like the rest of you!” 

“None of us are going to get to leave if we don’t know where the exit is. . .” Zoë sighed. 

“This doesn’t feel finished. . .” Dylan muttered. “It’s like- we're supposed to be at the climax of everything right now, but it doesn’t feel like it. It just feels normal, if not a little weird. . . what are we supposed to do? Where’s the action, and the closure? Are we just supposed to leave and move on? It shouldn’t be that simple.” 

“Bria knows where the exit is,” Audrey observed. “She has the answer. If we had just gotten to ask her-” 

The conversation continued as Lili stood behind her podium, arms still crossed, thinking. She didn’t understand what was going on. How was she still alive? Since she apparently was the mastermind, why wasn’t she dead? Everyone else won, so why did she get to be spared? 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵. . .

She thought long and hard about the exit. They had combed the school up and down to find it. She was sure it was right in front of their eyes somewhere. Being behind a locked door would be too simple, too easy, no. . . 

𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴. 

‘𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵’ 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. 

𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳.

Lili took a deep breath, still ignoring the ongoing conversation around her. She pulled a ponytail off her wrist and pulled her hair back, tying it up into a tight ponytail. 

“. . . Lili,” she heard. Lili looked up to see everyone looking at her. 

“What are you doing?” Zoë asked. 

“Finding the exit,” Lili said. “And proving to you I’m on your side.” With a brisk pace, almost a run, she approached the same door Bria disappeared through. 

“Lili, what are you doing-” Audrey began. 

“. . . what’s right,” Lili stated. She pulled the door open, thankful to see it was unlocked, and looked around. There was nothing but pure black through it, no sign of any light, there wasn’t even a distinct ceiling or ground. There was just void. With a deep breath, Lili jumped, tugging the door closed behind her as she plummeted through the dark. She heard her companions yell after her as she did so, but no one seemed to follow as she fell. The door wouldn’t budge for anyone else, so Lili fell alone. 

Time seemed to slow as she fell. She hadn’t really thought through what she was doing, she just jumped, partially because she hadn’t expected it to be this deep and partially because it was an impulsive decision made on a whim. Her worry increased the longer she fell, but at the same time, she couldn’t see anything other than herself. The lighting seemed fine- she could see her hands out in front of her easily, but there was just nothing else there. 

Hitting the ground hurt a lot less than she thought it would. In fact, hitting the ground didn’t hurt at all. She seemed to land a lot more gently than expected, and she just had the wind knocked out of her. No bone breaks, no twists, no concussions. She felt fine. 

Lili caught her breath and sat up, looking around, though there was nothing to see. She was in the same void it looked like she had been in before, except there was a solid ground below her that she couldn’t even see. The ground was cold and smooth, almost wet-feeling to the touch, yet there was no actual liquid there. 

She gathered her bearings and stood, looking around. 

“. . . Bria?” she asked quietly. “Bria!” 

“Hey Lili.” 

Lili turned to see Bria behind her. 

“What is this place. . .?” Lili asked. “What is going on, how is this happening?” 

“I’m glad you understood my little clue,” Bria observed. “You were always proud of that line.” 

“I’m not proud of anything,” Lili muttered. “Not anything you’ve done. Why am I here? What is this place?” 

“If we’re being honest, I have no idea,” Bria said. “I’m not even sure if it’s real.” 

“Then how are you here?” Lili asked. “How am I here?” 

“That question is for you to answer,” Bria reasoned. 

“𝘞𝘩𝘺 am I here, is the question,” Lili muttered dejectedly. “I don’t understand any of this. I wouldn’t have come up with something like this. No one would have! I get making this the plot of like a-a TV show, or a book or something, that’d be kind of interesting, but in real life? This is messed up! I don’t have the capacity for all of this, I wouldn’t have done it. So why did I is ANOTHER good question, along with why are you so okay with it?” 

“We thought this would be how you reacted, you and I,” Bria said. “We agreed it would be a weird lie to tell them, sure, and that it would probably have some bad effects, but everyone’s acting how we predicted them to for the most part.” 

Lili sighed. “Drop the disguise, Bria. I know you aren’t all mysterious and uptight as you’re acting. I may not have all my memories, but I know you’re a better person than this. We both are. So tell me, where’s the lie? What am I not remembering, and- and how do I get to remember? How do we get to leave?” 

“The lie,” Bria began. “Was in thinking that this is all nearly as bad as you believe. You’ll see soon enough. For now. . .” she took a step closer to Lili. “If you want to remember. . . you can remember.” She reached a hand out and pushed Lili backwards with a gentle nudge. Lili staggered back, expecting to just catch herself with her own footing, but instead she felt herself plummet. The ground beneath her had vanished, and she was falling again. Bria above her vanished after a moment, having turned around and walked away, and Lili was once again, falling alone. 

She twisted herself around midair and tried to look below her, after a moment, she realized she could make out smooth, dark water. 

𝘖𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘥. . .

It continued growing closer as she fell. 

𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩.

She clenched her eyes tight and held her nose, and yet, as she hit the water, she didn’t feel it cascade around her. There was a slight thud of impact, and she opened her eyes to find she wasn’t under the water at all. No, instead, the environment around her had changed, and she was now stood in a familiar room. 

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪’𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. . .?

She looked around. The couch and chair were still sat in the back corner. Those same cluttered shelves lined the back walls. Everything was sat in place. The only immediate difference she could see was the boxes: there were cardboard boxes gathered together that took up nearly half the room. Some were bare, and some were painted to look like booths. Maverick Nutrition, she read off of one of them. 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯. . .?

Then, of course, the window caught her eye. 

She hadn’t noticed it before. As she had scanned the room, it seemed in place with everything else. Like it was normal. Like there had always been a window there. But during the game, there had been no such thing, just a smooth wall. She approached it tentatively, squeezing between a bright orange box and a plain one, and reached out, letting her fingertips touch the warm glass. She could see the outside. The back of another building and the grass. Real grass, and above that, the real sky. 

She heard a cough come from behind her. 

Lili turned quickly, just to see that she was still alone in the room. 

“Bria?” She called out quietly. No response. 

She stepped away from the window, vowing to come back to it, and walked towards the entrance to Morali’s room. She stuck her head out the doorway and was almost taken aback by what she saw. 

There were students there, walking up and down the halls. People she didn’t recognize, talking and laughing. She could hear a teacher talking in the next room over, and students responding to her. 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?

She stepped across the hallway and peered into the classroom through the glass window on the door, which had “TINGLE” written on the navy plaque next to it. She could see people in there, game members and strangers alike, but they were all so familiar. The longer she looked, the more familiar they became, until she began to remember. They were all in that room for a reason. 

She locked eyes with someone in the room and they stood up. A girl of average height, with straight, mid-length blonde hair and bangs. She had been writing in a ginormous binder, and now approached the door to let Lili in. 

The girl pulled the door open. 

“I didn’t think it took that long for the printer to work,” she said with a slight laugh, returning to her seat. 

Lili stepped into the room and looked around more. Most eyes were on her. She recognized a lot of the people there; Trevor, Gabby, Jude, Preethika, Dylan and more. And as she looked, more names came to her; Ashley, Awulu, Myla, Ava. Sat at the front of the room was Ms. Tingle and Mrs. Morali. 

“Where are those spare manuals, Lili?” Ms. Tingle inquired, her feet propped up on her desk. 

. . .𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘖𝘭𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘥.

Lili took a step backwards, uncertain of what to believe. 

“Lili? Are you alright?” Mrs. Morali asked, a concerned expression on her face. 

“This isn’t real. . . it can’t be. You guys are dead. . .” she mumbled, looking at the most familiar of her classmates. “No, this isn’t. . it’s not real. . .” With that, she turned and sprinted towards the exit of the classroom. She opened the door and stepped back into what she had expected to be the hallway only to find that she was, again, in a different environment. 

This time, she didn’t recognize where she ended up. She was stood in a hallway that had doors that led to classrooms in it, but it wasn’t one in her own school. She was standing next to Gabby, Preethika, Jude, and Dylan, the five of them having formed a circle. Ms. Tingle, along with another adult she didn’t recognize, stood next to them. 

“God. . . I’m so nervous, Jesus,” Gabby stated, shaking her hands in anticipation. 

“Shhhh Gabby, the first round is still going,” the stranger whispered. She was a taller woman with dark hair and she carried a large purse. 

“You guys are going to do great, just go in there and give it your all,” Ms. Tingle whispered. 

“Yeah, we’re gonna do great,” Dylan said quietly. “We’ve been practicing on the buzzers for months, we know what we’re doing, we’ve got this.” 

“We’ve got this,” Gabby repeated, trying to reassure herself. 

“Here, everyone put your phones on silent and pass them here,” the tall woman said. “I’ll keep them with me until the competition is over, it’s probably better that way. Watches too.” 

The four others pulled phones out of their pockets and made sure they were powered off, proceeding to pass them to the tall woman. Lili just stood there, looking around and studying the expressions of her classmates. Gabby and Jude both seemed worried, whereas Preethika appeared determined and Dylan was apathetic. 

“Lili, your phone?” the tall woman insisted. Lili handed her the phone as well and watched it disappear into the large purse. 

As Preethika, Jude and Gabby began talking in hushed voices with Ms. Tingle, Lili turned to Dylan. 

“Do you, um. . . do you remember anything?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant. 

“Pfft, no,” he said with a quiet laugh. “Not a single thing.” 

The door to a classroom behind them opened, and a man she didn’t recognize gestured for them to come in. 

“So let’s go absolutely destroy all of them,” Dylan finished with a determined smile. He and the others walked through the doorway, leaving Lili in the hallway. 

“Lili, are you coming?” Preethika asked, holding the door open. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Lili answered. She had been peering through the door, looking into the room. There were two tables, each with four seats and four buzzers. 

“Quizbowl. . .” Lili realized as she stood there. 

“Um, yeah, that’s what we’re doing. . .” Preethika said awkwardly. “Come on Lili, the round is supposed to start soon.” 

“Right, um, sorry,” Lili said. She turned and surveyed the foreign hallway one more time before she heard it. 

Bria’s voice. 

“Found what you’re looking for yet? I will say, there’s a lot to sort through.” 

Lili turned and saw a figure vanishing through a different doorway, and so she followed at a brisk pace, turning into the classroom for the scene to be altered once again. 

The world became a lot more intense than it had been before. The quietness of the Quizbowl competition was quickly changed to become high-energy as Lili’s eyes opened and she found herself standing among a group of girls. She looked around and took in the new scenery, recognizing her surroundings as the school gym. The bleachers were packed to the brim with students, and she could hear the band playing from the other side of the gym. She was dressed like the rest of the girls she stood with, all wearing their dance team uniforms, standing and waiting with smiles on their faces for their next routine to start. She looked closer at the girls’ faces and began recognizing them, one by one, until her gaze fell on Bria, who was also dressed in uniform, and chatting happily with the girl standing next to her. 

“Ah, look at that. I’m in this one.” 

Lili heard Bria’s voice, only it wasn’t this Bria. Not the one she was looking at. This one seemed happy, and oblivious that anything going on in Lili’s world was even wrong. 

Lili glanced around the gym and saw another Bria standing in the entrance, arms crossed, leaned against the door. 

“Still haven’t found what you’re looking for?” she asked. Though she was across the room from Lili, Lili could understand what she was saying just fine. 

“No, not quite,” Lili muttered. She stepped off of her spot that she was stood in among the rest of the dance team and walked towards the doorway, leaving the pep rally behind her. 

She approached the door just as Bria turned and walked out of the gymnasium, closed her eyes and stepped through the doorway, knowing she was going to end up somewhere else. 

Surely enough, she opened her eyes to see that the environment had very much been altered again. She had returned to the black, void like room, but something felt off from before. It was colder now, and it felt more. . . artificial. She looked around to see nothing, and nearly jumped when she blinked and something appeared a few yards away from her. She approached the shape that had appeared, and as she neared it, realized that it was two people. Herself and Bria, both stood over a table, looking at papers spread out across it. The closer Lili came to the both of them, the better she could make out what they were saying. 

“. . . and then you’ll be ‘tHe tRaiToR,’” the other Lili said with a snort. 

“It sounds so dramatic,” Bria responded with a smile. 

“Yeah, it’s supposed to be, it’s meant to look like people are dying, everything’s gotta be dramatic,” Lili stated. 

“The biggest show we’ll ever put on. . . and you want to have your memories wiped and be stuck in there with the rest of them. I don’t get it, ‘mastermind,’” Bria questioned with a laugh. 

“Yeah, well. . . strange times, strange games. It’s what the board wanted, so it’s what I came up with. I just wanted your help,” Lili reasoned. Bria nodded in response. 

“I’m not sure why they want something like this in the first place. It’s awfully weird to think of your friends dying,” Lili continued. 

“We may never know what their reasoning is. . .” Bria said. “But at least we DO know that it’ll all be fine in the end.” 

“Speaking of the end,” Lili started, seemingly pulling a waterbottle out of thin air and taking a sip from it. “Let’s get to writing.” 

That was when the real Lili realized that what she was looking at was incomplete. The memory she was watching didn’t take place in the void- she was looking at a fragment of something that happened somewhere else, in whatever reality even was. While she may have experienced it before, all she could remember of it was these moments. The most important details. 

“I still don’t know how I feel about acting so mysterious and rude to you all,” Bria protested. “I just don’t like it.”’ 

“It’s out of my control,” the other Lili explained. “Not everything was my idea, obviously. Come on, let’s just get this finished up.” 

The real Lili reached out and waved her hand around in front of Bria and the other Lili’s faces. They didn’t budge. Unlike the rest of her memories, they couldn’t see that she was there. She hadn’t just taken on the place of herself in them, instead she was watching from the view of a stranger. 

After a moment of watching herself and Bria write together, discussing the events Lili had already lived through, Bria looked up and locked eyes with the real Lili. 

“So you 𝘥𝘰 know I’m here,” Lili observed. 

“I didn’t at first,” Bria stated. “But I became conscious soon enough. I have a feeling this was what you were looking for.” The other Lili continued writing as if nothing had happened. 

“Confirmation. . .” Lili muttered. 

“Yup,” Bria responded. “Proof of yourself being the mastermind. Are you satisfied now?” 

“I- well- yeah? I still want all of my memories back, and- and to know where the exit is. That’s what I came down here for in the first place.” 

“You want more memories?” Bria asked. 

“Well, yeah, duh,” Lili responded. 

“Well. . . your wish is my command, I guess.” Bria pointed behind Lili, and Lili turned to see a doorway appear behind her. 

“Where is that su- oh.” She turned back to see Bria was gone, along with the past version of herself. She went to face the door again and realized it was gone as well. 

𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘸?

She stood there, alone in the blackness for a few moments, trying to figure out where to go, when the void seemed to answer the question for her. She blinked, and her surroundings changed once more. 

There seemed to be a quiet chatter around her as her eyes opened. She seemed to have been walking down a hallway in yet another school building, and stopped as soon as she became conscious, seeing as Preethika continued walking on in front of her. 

Lili looked around and studied the new location. There was a group of older looking kids down the hall behind her, whispering anxiously. Two of them held thin binders. 

“Lili?” Preethika asked, having realized her companion stopped walking. “What are you doing? They’re probably waiting on us. We were the last event to go.” 

“Sorry,” Lili said, resuming her pace and catching up with Preethika. “Just got. . . distracted.” 

The two continued walking until they reached the end of the hallway, which opened up into a large room. It was empty for the most part, and there were a few doorways to the left that led to an even larger room, filled with cafeteria tables and students, all passing lighthearted banter back and forth. There was a curtained stage set into the back wall. 

The two girls were approached by Ms. Tingle. 

“How did it go?” she asked, smiling lightly. 

“It was uh. . . it was good,” Lili answered, despite having no idea what was going on. 

“I’m glad to hear it,” Ms. Tingle responded. “The awards were supposed to start like half an hour ago, we need to head into the gym.” 

“That’s fine,” Preethika answered simply. The three began walking through the doors, and turned to their right, at the first long cafeteria table. There were a few students scattered across it, but she recognized much more of them sitting at a round table directly behind the large one. They milled about, talking with a mixture of anxious and excited tones. 

“Hey, uh, Preethika,” Lili started. “Can I have that binder?” she asked, referring to what she hadn’t even noticed Preethika was carrying. 

“Yeah, of course,” Preethika responded, handing it to her. “It’s yours anyways.” Preethika smiled and then walked off, sitting down next to Mrs. Morali at the longer table. 

Lili looked down at the binder in her hands. 

𝘈&𝘗.

She could feel memories flood into her head. Memories of Science Olympiad, of PA, of Quizbowl. Memories of school, and her life. All the things that had been taken away from her, she felt begin to return. 

Lili smiled. It felt good to know where she was. Good to know what they were doing. Good to know what they were waiting on. It felt good to know. 

She sat down in an empty seat at the round table. Emma, Dylan, Gabby, Wade, and some others were sat around it as well. 

“Hey guys,” she said casually, sitting the binder down in front of her. 

“Hey, how did A&P go?” Myla asked. 

“It went well,” Lili responded. “I think we’ll get second or first. It depends on how the other teams did, really.” 

“I wish it hadn’t run over time,” Ashley stated. “We played these really fun games while you were gone.” 

“Yeah. On a related note, everyone’s name is Matthew now,” Gabby laughed. 

“I will. . . pretend to know what that means,” Lili said with a smile. 

“Awards should start any minute now, since you’re all back,” Dylan observed. “You guys ready?” 

“Not in the slightest,” Audrey K stated. “But we’ve got to get it over with.” 

“Time to lose,” Gabby said sarcastically. 

“Nah,” Emma started, optimistic. “Time to win.” 

“We can certainly hope we will.” Ava smiled. 

All their heads turned as someone on stage turned on a mic and began announcing the start of the awards ceremony to the room. There appeared to be a good few teams there- most of the tables were pretty full. The longer Lili listened to the man speak, the more difficult she found it was to concentrate on his words. The room was gradually filled with a strange white noise, growing louder and louder until she could no longer hear any of her surroundings. Her classmates around her whispered but she couldn’t make out what they said. 

“Hello?” she muttered under her breath. She could hear herself just fine. “Hello?” she repeated, louder this time. No one turned and looked at her. 

“Can you guys hear me?” she asked. No response. Everything around her carried on as if it were all normal, probably because to them, it was. 

“Yeah, I wasn’t in this one,” a voice said. Lili immediately recognized it as Bria’s, but there was no source. 

“You weren’t in Olympiad,” Lili reasoned, looking around. 

“Nah, I wasn’t. Still, it’s quite the nice memory. They go on and announce who all won each event, but I doubt you want to sit through that. Want to skip to the end?” 

“Uh. . . sure?” Lili answered. 

“Alright. . . can you close your eyes for me?” 

Lili squeezed her eyes shut, and then heard the white noise in the background begin to fade, until the man on stage’s voice came back into focus. She looked around: not much changed in that short time period, but she noticed she and all her teammates were donning blue-ribboned medals. 

“. . . and in first place. . .” the man on stage began. 

“God, I wonder who it is?” Trevor said sarcastically, shaking the medals around his neck. 

“. . . is Germantown Middle School!” 

Lili was whisked away with the rest of the team as the room burst into applause. The group all moved towards the stage, smiling and whooping victoriously. They were handed a trophy, and grouped together to take a photograph. In that moment, all that mattered was them and their victory. It felt so real to Lili as she stood there and smiled into the camera. All that mattered was how real it was. 

All good things must come to an end, of course, as time froze around her, and everything became dead silent. She stepped forwards, out of the tightly pushed together group, and looked around again. 

“Ready to move on? You’ll like the next one,” Bria’s voice echoed again. She sounded oddly lighthearted compared to the Bria that Lili had come to know. This felt more natural to her. More correct. 

“If it means I get to learn where the exit is and get out of this place,” Lili said. 

“Well then. . . behind the curtains,” Bria said simply. 

Lili turned and glanced at the group again, their happiness all frozen in time as they stood there. They all deserved that happiness. They all deserved that feeling of victory. 

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵.

She took a step forwards and felt around the curtains of the stage that they were all stood in front of. She found where the two sides met and grabbed the fabric. She glanced back at the group one more time, and pulled them open and stepped through. 

Lili wasn’t surprised by the sight she was met with next. 

Mrs. Lindsey’s classroom was bustling with life as she stood in the doorway. Students moved around in the familiar hallway behind her. She poked her head out and saw the clock sticking out of the wall near the ceiling a little ways down the hallway. 

8:18. 

It was early in the morning. The day had hardly begun, and she could somehow feel the exhaustion that came with that early time. She rubbed her eyes and stepped into the classroom, and as she moved she noticed the weight on her back. She carried a heavy bag that was practically larger than she was, and it weighed her down. With a light sigh, she looked around, now out of the doorway. Everyone there looked so happy, and so. . . normal. 

She watched as David scrawled “Good Morning” onto the board in a messy print as Jude, Ethan, and Wade bantered with him. She watched Dylan write on a sheet of paper, copying off another one as Trevor watched anxiously and Parker sat next to them. She watched as Mrs. Lindsey herself sat behind her desk in the back corner, typing away on her MacBook. 

Olivia slammed a large plastic container down on Gabby’s desk in front of her. 

“I brought muffins today!” 

“Jesus, I think I could tell,” Gabby answered with a laugh. Carter and Audrey K came up behind both of them and started talking excitedly. 

Preethika was sat in the corner of the room, quietly asking Morgan and Zoë something. Ashlyn, Randi, and Audrey E chatted happily behind them. Behind them was an empty chair, and sitting next to that empty chair was Bria. She turned when she noticed Lili had entered the room and smiled. 

“Hey Lili!” she exclaimed. “Olivia brought muffins this morning.” 

“I uh- I noticed.” Lili gradually walked over to the seat and sat her bag on the floor, looking around the room again as she stood. 

“Everyone looks so happy,” she observed. “So normal.” 

“I mean, yeah, why wouldn’t they?” Bria asked. “Did you do the homework?” 

Lili looked down at Bria. She seemed normal- normal as in she hadn’t been subjected to this ‘game,’ normal as in she wasn’t any sort of traitor. The Bria that Lili would have known before this all happened. 

“Are you here?” Lili asked bluntly. “YOU you, not just. . . you. That doesn’t make sense.” 

“What?” Bria asked. “Uh, I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean. Is that your way of saying you didn’t do those problems?” she smiled. 

“Do you know what’s going on?” Lili asked, beginning to sit down. 

“Of course- 

-I do.” 

The scene changed the minute Lili touched the chair. She was no longer in Mrs. Lindsey’s busy room. Bria had been cut off mid-statement as everything shifted, but Lili could still hear the sentence being finished. 

Lili surveyed her surroundings. She was still in a classroom, but it appeared different. The desks, rather than being in rows, were grouped together. She sat at a cluster of four that was closest to a door that was directly behind her. There was a whiteboard on the wall to her left, and Lili finally deduced that she was in a trailer, judging by the strange layout and design of the place. 

In the back corner of the room there was a desk, behind which was Bria, sat in a comfortable looking rolling chair. 

“So this is where I’ve ended up,” Lili said. “Where am I?” 

“Take a minute and answer that question yourself,” Bria responded quietly. 

Lili took another look at her surroundings. 

“Crockett. . . it’s his trailer,” she realized. “Humanities. . . that’s why Cameron wasn’t in Lindsey’s room. Because he’s in here.” 

“There you go, that’s it,” Bria answered. 

Lili paused, just taking in the room and the absurdity of the entire situation. 

“How am I even here?” she asked. “None of this makes remote sense. I can’t just walk from the stage at some high school and appear in Mrs. Lindsey’s classroom. How am I here?” 

“Maybe you aren’t at all,” Bria shrugged. “I have no idea.” 

“Are 𝘺𝘰𝘶 here?” Lili inquired. 

“Probably not. I could be. Like I said, no idea.” 

“That makes plenty of sense, thanks,” Lili said sarcastically. 

The two sat in silence again. 

“Why this place?” Lili asked. “Why Crockett’s room? Why is this where I am? It’d make more sense for- for a competition, or for Lindsey’s classroom, or SOMETHING that had meaning during this entire. . . fiasco. But we never got to come here during everything that happened. Why did I end up here?” 

Bria didn’t respond. She looked down, tracing her finger along the wood of the desk, creating obsolete patterns and shapes on the surface. 

“. . . why am I here?” Lili repeated, but there was different meaning behind her words this time, which Bria noticed, as she looked up and met Lili’s eyes. “Not in this classroom, but. . . why am I here at all? Why’d I just go down that. . . insane memory trip, and why was I even in this ‘game’ thing. Why were any of us there; why did I come up with it?” 

“You’re not going to want to face the truth,” Bria answered quietly. “Though it’s less cruel than you’d actually expect it to be in this instance. Still. . .” her voice trailed off. “The world’s gotten stranger.” 

“I don’t even know what that means, Bria,” Lili said. Her memories had begun returning to her, but a lot of it was blurry. Still. . . she could remember sometimes from before the game. 

“Why are you talking like this?” Lili asked. “You sound so much more uptight than I remember. Why are you doing this at all? Where’s the happy, bubbly person I knew?” 

Bria sighed. “I’m right here, Lili. I’m just acting. I’m an actor in all of this, just as everyone else is, and just as you are.” 

“What do you mean by that? I’m not an actor, I don’t remember anything!” 

“Neither do the others, just. . . things are so complicated, Lili. You’ve got to understand that.” 

“Then help me understand,” Lili pleaded. “Just explain what’s going on. Why did I come up with this? What did I have to gain?” 

“I don’t think you’re ever going to get to find that out. If we’re being honest, I don’t know either. I didn’t know everything you and the board came up with. I’m just helping enforce it.” 

“Why?” 

“Because you’re my friend.” 

“Friends don’t let people kill their other friends,” Lili reasoned. 

“No, they don’t,” Bria responded. “So I think you’ll be happy to learn the truth. Are you ready to witness it?” 

Lili slowly stood from her seat, standing there in the middle of Crockett’s trailer. 

“I feel like that answers my question. Anyways, you have two options,” Bria began. “You can come with me. You can learn the details of everything, and understand why it’s all happened. Escape the consequences of your actions among the rest of the class. They clearly don’t think very highly of you after the big reveal.” She stood and approached another door in the trailer. This one was on the wall across the room from Lili, on the same side as the desk and across from the whiteboard, and she could tell it wasn’t an exit. Artificial light filtered through the crack underneath it: wherever it led to, it was still inside. 

“Or you can go your own way. Leave through the other door, return to the rest of the group. Tell them where the exit is, leave with them, but never get your real answer. Never really know the reason for all of this. It would be lost with your own decision. What will you choose, Lili?” 

Lili looked at Bria and then back at the door behind her, and slowly approached the door opposite of the one Bria stood by. As much as she wanted an answer, she wanted her friends to be safe even more. She’d rather walk out of there with them having no idea why they went through what they did than leave with Bria and learn the truth. Sometimes the truth wasn’t always what you wanted to hear anyways. 

“It’s all about endings, right?” Bria asked. “That closure, that knowledge of knowing something is done. I hope that, in whatever you choose, you find the closure you need to move on. I hope you all do.” 

“. . .where’s the exit?” 

“So you’ve made your choice?” 

Lili became quiet for a moment. 

“. . . I have.” 

Bria smiled bittersweetly. 

“The Hobbit hole. You know what I’m talking about.” 

Lili thought hard, and then nodded. “I do.” 

Lili paused, and reached her hand out to the metal of the knob, grasping it tightly. “When will I see you again? After this?” 

“I’m not sure,” Bria responded quietly. 

Lili paused, standing there in the silence for a moment. “How do I know what’s real?” she asked, locking eyes with Bria. 

Bria smiled. She turned the knob of the door she was making her exit through and pushed it open, standing in the doorway. 

“You don’t,” she shrugged, pulling the door to a close behind her. 

~~~~ 

Lili didn’t waste so much as a second after Bria closed the door. She threw her own door open and practically fell through it, and found that her eyes opened this time as she laid on a beanbag. 

Lili sat up. Her surroundings seemed odd, but somehow more real than anything she had just experienced. She was on the floor of a very small, very cluttered room. There were shelves on one side of her and cabinets on the other, and there was barely any room to even move around. She pulled herself to her feet and almost jumped at what she locked eyes with. 

There was a dead rat in an airtight bag on the shelf next to her. 

“Gross. . .” she muttered, stepping away from it as she realized there were three others there as well. Slightly more cautious of where she was standing than before, she managed to make her way towards the door of the small room, trying not to step on any of the absolute chaos on the floor. 

She approached the door and reached out to the handle, attempting to turn it only to find it was locked from the outside. 

“Dang. . .” she mumbled, fidgeting with the handle again only for it to stay locked. 

𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴. . .

She crossed her arms and took a deep breath, looking over the room. 

“Where would I even start. . ?” 

As she looked around, she suddenly realized where she was. A distant memory became a little less foggy the longer she stood there. 

𝘔𝘴. 𝘛𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘵. 

𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘵. 

She smiled at the memory. It was nice to know where she was, and what she was looking at, but remembering her location wasn’t going to help her find a way out of here. 

With a discontented sigh, she stuck her hands in the pockets of her dance team jacket and felt them make contact with cool metal. 

𝘖𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.

She wrapped her fingers around the object in her pocket and pulled it out to reveal none other than a small metal key. 

“The key from Jude’s room. . .” she whispered to herself. “Of course! It makes so much sense- of course he’d have the key to his own mom’s room.” She took the key and stuck it into the lock, twisting it and hearing a satisfying click as the door swung open to reveal that same lab that Science Olympiad had met up in so long ago. 

𝘕𝘰 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦

With that, she stepped out of the room and broke into a sprint as she ran down the eighth-grade hallway towards the trial rooms. 

𝘐’𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴.

~~~~ 

August 19th, 2020, 12:23 PM 

“Lili-!” Zoë exclaimed as Lili vanished through the door to the execution room. 

“Well that was stupid,” David observed. 

“Yeah, no dip, Sherlock!” Dylan exclaimed. 

“She’s gonna die in there,” Audrey E said, pulling on the now locked door. “You couldn’t even see anything in there! It was just the freakin’ void, what was she expecting to do???” 

Dylan stood behind his podium, thinking. Though he believed that Lili’s heart had been in the right place and that she truly did regret her actions as mastermind (though that was mostly because she couldn’t even remember them), and that she had a point in her realization about what Bria said, he felt as if this wasn’t the right way to go about it. 

. . . 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴? ‘𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳’ 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦. . .

“I guess all we have to do now is wait,” Wade observed. 

Luckily enough for them, they didn’t have to wait long, as Lili burst through the entrance to the trial room just as he finished his sentence. 

“Guys, you are not gonna BELIEVE what I just went through-” 

“You were gone for less than thirty seconds, I doubt it was that dramatic,” Audrey exclaimed. 

“Thirty seconds? No, that can’t be right, I’ve been gone for like at least twenty minutes, because. . . well, I remember stuff now! And I-I know more than I did before. Look, I’ll explain it all on the way, come on guys!” 

“The way to where?” Parker asked. 

“Oh yeah, right. The exit, of course. Forgot to add that I know where that is now.” 

Zoë smiled. “Why don’t you take us to it then?” 

The group trickled out of the trial room, following Lili in a clump down the eighth-grade hallway. She began explaining what happened to her after she jumped as they walked- talking to Bria in the void and the first memory- when they arrived at Morali’s door. 

“Morali’s room?” Wade asked. “You’re telling me the exit was under our noses the entire time. David, Cameron, Jude and I. . . we spent hours in here.” 

“How did we miss it?” David said, who was getting help walking from both Parker and Wade. 

“I mean. . I’m not sure, really. I feel like it’s kind of obvious, looking back.” Lili pushed the door open and entered the room, immediately walked over to the couch and chair in the corner. 

“Someone help me pull these out of the way a bit,” she asked. Zoë and Audrey walked over to help her move the furniture. 

“How do we know we can trust her?” Dylan muttered, turning to Parker. “She was gone for less than a minute, and then she appears on the other side of the room and suddenly knows everything? It doesn’t make sense.” 

“I have no clue, man” Parker responded. “But it’s the best we’ve got to go off of. She jumped into that void place just to find the exit for us. For what it's worth, I think she’s at least a little trust-worthy.” 

“Let’s hope so. . .” Dylan said with a sigh. 

He watched as the three girls got the couch and chair moved out of the way a bit. Lili proceeded to kneel down and feel around on the floor under the table that was nestled in the corner of the room until she found some sort of indentation in the floor. She pulled up on it, and a trapdoor on the floor opened. 

“Woah. . .” Wade commented. “And that was just there, the entire time. . .?” 

“I mean, I have to assume so,” Lili said. 

“We never even thought to check there. . .” Wade mumbled. 

“So who’s going to go first?” Lili asked. She looked around at the group. 

Dylan sighed. “I will.” 

“Great,” she answered. “Because if I’m being honest, it’s dark-looking down there, and that makes me feel nervous.” 

He stepped forwards and crawled under the table, finding the metal steps on the wall in the trap door, and lowered himself down. They were built into the wall like a ladder, and the farther down he climbed the more uneasy he got. When there were no more steps to climb on and his foot hit the ground instead, a light flickered on to reveal that he was in what appeared to be an underground tunnel. 

“It’s safe,” he called up, though it couldn’t have been more than a five-yard climb. “It’s a weird tunnel thing, but it’s lit up, so I mean. . . it should be fine.” 

One by one, the students made their way down the ladder, with David taking the longest as his shoulder was still injured. Lili came down last, pulling the top of the trapdoor closed behind her. 

The group began walking, and Lili continued explaining what happened to her in her absence as they did so, but Dylan was barely listening. He had dreamed of leaving this strange, strange place for so long, and now, as they were leaving, he didn’t know what he was going to do. He could feel a strange sensation in his head and he realized, as time went on and they continued walking, that he was beginning to remember again. He was remembering Olympiad, remembering band. . . remembering his friends. He longed to see them again, those that weren’t in the tunnel there with him. 

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭, he reminded himself. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰. 

The rest of them remained silent as they walked when Lili finished her story. It was so absurd that it might have been true, and though they’d never have any real proof, Dylan felt there was enough honesty behind her words for her to be right. 

They continued on until the end of the hallway neared, which seemed to take ages, and there was another ladder there in front of them. 

“What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get out of here?” Parker asked. 

“Stare directly into the sun,” Dylan responded, half joking. 

“Same, man. I need that Vitamin D.” 

Dylan laughed slightly and approached the ladder. 

“I’ll uh. . . I’ll go first. See where it leads,” he offered. The others nodded in agreement. 

With a deep breath, he grabbed onto the metal of the ladder. Every step he took felt colossal, and it felt as if it was taking far longer than it should’ve to reach the top. As he climbed, he also contemplated. He wanted closure. Would getting to the top of the ladder bring him the closure he wanted? When he stepped out of this tunnel and into whatever was up there, would he be satisfied with his ending? With all of their endings? 

He reached the top of the ladder and faced a wooden door. 

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵. . .

With yet another deep breath, he turned the handle and pushed the door open. 

The sight he was met with was a lovely one. It was a school gym, but not the middle school’s gym. “MAVERICKS” was written across the ground, and there were basketball goals, and a scoreboard mounted on the wall. 

He exited the tunnel and entered the gym of the high school. The normal, plain gym. Both sets of doors on the other end were propped open, and he could see natural light coming in through both of them. 

𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘦?

He began walking forwards, and paused in his tracks when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. 

He turned and looked around, not immediately pinpointing the source, and then he saw it- a short, dirty blonde haired, freckled kid sitting on the corner of the bleachers. 

“Valve oil doesn’t kill people, genius,” the kid said with a smile. 

Dylan smiled back, not believing his own eyes. It was the first genuine smile he had given in a long time. 

He walked over to Trevor and sat down next to him, the both of them silent for a moment. 

“How are you here?” Dylan asked quietly. 

“Stuff’s complicated. The thing is. . . nothing is really fatal if you try hard enough.” 

“What is that supposed to even mean?” Dylan asked. 

Trevor gestured to the open doorways on the other side of them gym. Dylan saw silhouettes were now standing in them, all familiar. 

“You’re telling me that-” 

“Yeah. I’m telling you that.” 

Dylan smiled again. He couldn’t believe it. He had wanted to believe it for so long, he had been in denial, refusing to accept what he had thought to be the truth, and here he was. Seeing that it wasn’t the truth after all. 

The others began entering the room, climbing up the ladders as well, each delivering their own shocked reaction to Trevor. Once all seven of them had entered, the outlines in the doorways began entering the room too, and they were all joined by their other classmates. Bringing up the rear was none other than Mrs. Cook and Furkan. 

The reunion was emotional, to say the least. The entire time, Dylan was just wondering, how? How were they all here, how were they alive? 

He watched as Lili, Zoë, and Audrey E wrapped Randi, Morgan and Ashlyn in the tightest group hug. . . maybe it didn’t matter. Not right now, at least. Upon thinking about it, most of the ways people here died didn’t have to be fatal. . . that and they hardly never checked for heartbeats when another fatality occurred. 

Mrs. Cook approached Dylan and smiled. He smiled back. 

“You did well,” she said warmly. Dylan just nodded. He couldn’t bring himself to speak. Not right now. 

“I know what you’re wondering,” Mrs. Cook began. “And I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for you. None of them will either. How they’re alright is a miracle, but how they’re alright isn’t what’s important, it’s the fact that they are at all. Furkan and I helped out and made sure everything would be fine in the end to the best of our abilities, and as it turned out. . . they were never in any real danger to begin with.” 

Dylan looked at her confusedly. 

“I know, it’s. . . weird. No one here was ever supposed to die, and no one did. I don’t know what the school board’s motivation for this even was, nor their reasoning. None of it makes sense. . . yet. I’m working to figure it out. They work on a much higher level than I as a counselor does, so it may take a while to uncover the truth, and the reasoning, but. . . for what it’s worth, you’re okay. You’re all okay. And that’s what matters most right now.” 

Dylan nodded in agreement as Mrs. Cook turned to talk to another student, and watched as they all hugged and reunited again. It was a great sight to see, all of the friends getting to know the others were alright, and right now, all that mattered to him was that they were okay, like Mrs. Cook said. 

He turned and faced Trevor again, sitting back down on the bleachers next to him. As far as closure goes. . . Dylan felt strangely at peace, much more than he would expect to in a situation like this one. He was here right now, sitting next to his best friend, and they were alright. 

Sometimes, alright was all you needed. 

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕕.

~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;]


End file.
